The
Island of Sanda lies on the west side of the entrance to the Firth of Clyde, and
is approximately seven miles E.S.E. of the Mull of Kintyre, and just under two
miles from the nearest point on the mainland. Due to its geographical location
Sanda has on several occasions been involved in the early history of Scotland.
A one time a possession of the monks of Whithorn, in Galloway, and it is entirely
possible that it may have been visited by Saint Ninian and dedicated to Saint
Ninian on one hand, or St. Adamnan (biographer of Saint Columba) on the other.
At the foot of the central valley on the north side, can be found the ruins of
a sl chapel. According to one Father McCann who visited Sanda in 1598, this may
well have marked the tomb of the fourteen sons of Senchanus and what he calls
'The Great God's care of his Saints,' A hen was said to have laid her eggs in
the enclosure, the chicks all being hatched with twisted necks. Sanda is frequently
mentioned in the Norse Sagas, and was laid waste by Magnus Barefoot in 1093. Somerled's
vessels were also known to have visited the Island in the twelfth century, and
Haakon sheltered there prior to and following the Battle of Largs.
The
Danes apparently named the Island 'Haaven' or Harbour, this later Latinised as
'Avona Porticosa.' Norsemen first used the name Sanda or Sand Island, an allusion
no doubt to the sandy north harbor. The Island has two Gaelic names, 'An Spain'
- the Spoon, and 'Abhuinn,' - the Stream. Certainly viewed from the direction
of Arran, Sanda does present the appearance of an inverted spoon. [16-4]
500-1212 In
the corner of it linking Scotland and Ireland there came expulsion from ancestral
lands followed by the plantation of new settlers, in Ulster but also in Kintyre,
some time before 500 AD the sons of Erc crossed the Sea of Moyle from Dalriada
in an invasion which eventually brought the kingdom of Scotland into being. Warriors
later went back to Ireland. Men of Kintyre must have been in the Norse Gael army
at the battle of Clontarf in 1014, and again when the grandson of Somerled besieged
Derry in 1212. Later in the 13th century the Irish tried to resist the Anglo-Norman
conquest by employing 'galloglaigh' mercenaries from the Highlands, notably the
McSweens of Knapdale and the McDonalds of Islay and Kintyre. A distinction can
be made between the Glens of Antrim, facing Scotland, and the fertile lowlands
extending west to the River Bann. These became part of James VI and I's Plantation
of Ulster, whereas 'the Glens were not a juicy conquest for those whose living
ultimately depended on agriculture, but a place of refuge separated from Kintyre
by the sea, from the rest of Ireland by mountain and bog, and protected from within
by steep rocky slopes and dense woods. [13-6]
1263 The expedition of
Bute were not restored to MacRuari, but remained in the hands of the Steward.
The Macruaries of Bute were descended from Rory, or Roderick, grandson of Somerled.
The Steward of Scotland had encroached his lands of Bute on and, as they were
held as a fief of Norway he proceeded to that country and laid his complaint before
King Hakon. He received from King Alexander III part of the territories, which
had belonged to the King of Man in the northern isles, and, at a later date, the
family acquired galloglasses; Highland soldiers, and the reference to
the contingent under Sir Colin Campbell of Lochow, who accompanied the King on
this expedition. Qualities in these West Highland soldiers which strongly commended
them to the Irish chiefs, and of which the latter had probably a good demonstration
during the campaign of Edward Bruce. Bruce appears to have had many of them on
his army, and two of their chiefs, a Macdonald and a Macruarie, fell with him
at Dundalk. [16-10]
Shakespeare names: West Highlands origins; the forces
of the Irish consisted of native cavalry, of the native Irish infantry known as
"kerns," and of the foreign mercenaries known as 'galloglasses.' Of
the Irish cavalry the English speak with some respect; of the kerns usually in
terms of contempt. The galloglasses were heavily armed foot, distinguished by
their peculiar dress and armor; first heard of by Englishmen resident in Ireland
indebted for a description of their appearance and armor. Their style is often
dispatched backed to Henry VIII and that they oath to the due enemy. The
foreign youth or service often described Latin treatise at the same time as Irish
affairs. (Although Representations of West Highland soldiers of the Middle Ages
may be seen on sepulchral stones in both Ireland and Scotland. After missionaries,
those counted converts.) [16-10]
Spenser names: PEDIS GRAVIS ARMATURA [16-10]
1342
The MacRuaries have an exact member of the family from whom the galloglass commanders
were descended is uncertain, and the earliest mention of them acting in the capacity.
When they appear as Constables of galloglasses to the King of Connaught. They
were found mainly in Tyrone and Connaught.
1350-1500 The Iona school [Iona,
Saddell, Loch Awe (Kilmartin), Loch Sween (Kilmory) and Oronsay] has its
own distinctive style After 1500 the lettering used in all the workshops changed
from Lombardic capitals to the style known as black letter: this transition took
place in England about 150 years earlier. [27-3]
1380 The Latin Calenus
or Colinus, is for the Gaelic personal name Cailean. Macheachyrna is from Gaelic
Mac, 'son of", each, 'horse' and tighearna, 'lord' - 'son of the horse lords.
The name also appears on the Campeltown Cross of around 1380 (from which it may
have been copied) commemorating Ivor and Andrew MacEachern, father and son, successive
pastors at Kilkivan, near the village of Machrihanish, to the west of Campbeltown.
Colin MacEachern was chief of the MacEacherns of Killellan, in the neighboring
parish of Kilblane (Kilblaan), now part of Southend parish. A royal charter of
1499 confirmed him in the office of inner of South Kintyre, a hereditary post
granted to him by John, the last Lord of the Isles; he was also confirmed in grants
of land at Killellan and other lands in the parish of Kilblane. As all the lands
of the Lordship were forfeited. [27-3]
1420 the origin of the two remaining
families of mercenary leaders, those of MacSheehy and MacCabe. The writer of the
history known as the RED BOOK OF CLANRANALD states, however, that the Irish MacSheehys
were descended from a certain Siothach, grandson of a brother of the Angus Mor.
Regarded as a branch of the MacDonalds of Islay and Kintyre. As mercenary leaders
they appeared first in the north, but in 1420 they became Constables to the Earls
of Desmond in Munster, and the owners of castles and considerable tracts of land
there; Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, and Meath as galloglass leaders of Norse-Hebridean
origin, and following that profession for two centuries, their heads being known
as Constables of Oriel, Breiffny, and Fermanagh. It is mainly in Munster that
the name, now usually Sheehy or Shee, is found today.
1425 the Saddell
School is thought to have started work, and about 1500 the Abbey went into demise.
The cross-patonce group should not only be related to each other but also to those
crosses, which bear a fleur-de-lis. Now trefoil foliage is common in the West
Highland series but there is a distinction between the rather amorphous three-leaved
effect that was often achieved and a single fleur-de-lis placed at a critical
point. In such cases the three leaves of the fleur-de-lis are obviously symbolic
of the Trinity and the sculptor usually leaves us in to doubt that this was his
intention. The MacLean Cross on lona has a fleur-de-lis placed in the top arm
above the Crucifixion. On crosses from Neareabolls, Islay, Ellean Mor, Knapdale
(before 1402) and the afore-mentioned cross from Kilmore, Dervaig, Mull the top
of the Rood-shaft actually ends in a fleur-de-lis. In the cross from Kirkapoll,
Tiree (now also at Inveraray), a cross which shows similarities to the MacLean
cross on lona, the top of the Rood terminates in two trefoil leaves - which is
obviously intended to give the same effect. Interestingly the Saddell stone follows
this idea because the top arm above the Rood shows a very definite fleur-de-lis
whereas the corresponding panel on the reverse of the cross shows a much more
amorphous trefoil. [17-4]
There is the tradition in Inveraray that the stone
was brought from Iona or from Southend, Kintyre. Another tradition in Southend,
Kintyre, as reported in the New Statistical Account, that a cross from there had
been removed to Inveraray. The similarity between the Saddell and Inveraray crosses
leads to the question of the original situation of the Inveraray crosses that
now stands at the foot of Main St. It obviously wasn't designed to serve as Inveraray's
market cross so where did it come from? The Inveraray Cross is very similar to
the Campbeltown Cross. A nearby burial-ground of Kilew has been suggested. The
cross-patonce and fleur-de-lis therefore occur together on this new Saddell cross
and possibly also on other crosses at Saddell, Kilmore (Mull) etc where presently
only part of the cross survives. The two ideas are closely related because in
a cross-patonce the three-lobed effect of a fleur-de-lis is merely transferred
to the terminals of the three arms. A further extension of this idea may be the
scalloped grave-slabs at Killean, which were also produced by the Kintyre school.
[17-4]
1425-1500c The style of decoration
suggests that this cross is a product of the Kintyre school of carving based at
Saddell Abbey. It is very similar to the cross at Kilkerran commemorating Gliclirist
MacKay and his wife, arid to the cross at Saddell Abbey for an Alexander (the
rest of the inscription is missing). Fragments of a cross-shaft from Kilchousland,
two miles north--east of Caupheltown, can be seen in the Campbeltown Museum. Another
fragment of a cross-head has recently come to light at Saddell. It was common
for such crosses to be erected during the lifetime of the persons honored, and
taking into account the documentary evidence, artistic style and lettering It
seems likely that the MacEachern Gross was made in the 1490s; thus it is over
a hundred years younger than the Campbeltown Cross, which from its inscription
and style was carved at Iona around 1380 Under the Inscription, the front of the
MacEachern Cross (the family named on the cross have such strong South
Kintyre connections, the name also occurs on another cross at Kilkerran , akin
to Both the Campbeltown and Inveraray crosses were produced by the Iona school
of carving)has two sl panels: in the left panel is a pair of shears, perhaps symbolizing
Colin's involvement in the cloth industry, while the right panel is blank. Below
are a niche containing a man and a woman embracing - presumably Colin and Katherine
- and a warrior on horseback, with sword, spear, spurs and pointed helmet. At
the bottom of the shaft is a galley with sails furled, showing the masts and rigging.
The hinged rudder characteristic of the West Highland biorlinn is clearly visible,
and there is a shield embossed with a trefoil between the prow and the rigging.
Traditionally the adoption of the hinged rudder is attributed to Somerled, ancestor
of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles who ruled Kintyre and the Western isles from
the 12th century until the last forfeiture in 1493. INSCRIPTION: At the
top of the front of the shaft is a 12-line inscription in Latin, in a style of
lettering known as Lombardic Capitals, suggesting a date of before 1500:
HEC E/ST CR/VX CA/LENI / MACHEA/CHYR/NA ET / KATI/RINE / VXOR/IS E/IVS c"This
is the cross of Colin MacEachern and his wife Katherine' [27-3]
1493 Angus
MacDonald the son of the chief of Islay and Kintyre, fled to the Island seeking
sanctuary at the chapel. He eventually became tenant and later owner of Sanda,
and went on to found the House of Macdonald of Sanda. During the Scottish War
of Independence on the mainland opposite Sanda at the fortress of Dunaverty, Robert
the Bruce stayed en route to Rathlin. Opposite of Sanda and Prince Edward’s Rock
on the south side, is named after his brother. Before 1493, Sanda remained a possession
of the Priory of Whithorn.
1493, Colin MacEachern must have been the chief
by that year, and perhaps even by 1475, when John's lands in Kintyre were forfeited.
The MacEacherns held Killellan until about 1740, when the e line came to an end.
[27-3]
1503 John of Islay and the title "Lord
of the Isles" died at Dundee [17-2]
1505-1590 Sorley Boy McDonnell,
the youngest son of Alexander McDonald of Dunyveg, Kintyre and the Glynns, was
born in Antrim and spent most of his long life fighting against the English and
the native Irish for the lands he had inherited in Antrim. He raised levies in
Kintyre. Sorley Boy's military fastness was to become a place of refuge for Kintyre
adherents of Clan Donald in the 17th century. [13-9]
1507-8 the Castle of
Saddell, on the shore and about half a mile from the Abbey, was begun soon after
the grant on January 1st of a Charter by James IV in favour of the
Bishop of Argyll to uphold Argyll's old lands pertaining to Saddell Abbey into
a Barony and giving all the powers of a feudal Baron to the Bishop. [17-2]
1507
Colin was given the office of Chamberlain for South Kintyre, and granted further
lands, which he had been leasing previously from the Earl of Argyll. These lands
included Glenramskillmore, which we know was given to the church of Kilkerran
by Colin before 1507, thus establishing a connection with the church where the
cross dedicated to Colin MacEachern and his wife is found. [27-3]
1510 Colin
had previously applied to the Church, for legitimation of his six sons: colm,
Andrew, John, Donald, Eachann and Niall, probably in preparation for the grant
of lands to colm and to make the ownership of the clan lands more secure for his
successors. Apart from being born out of wedlock, the most common reason for such
an application at this time was that the parents were too closely related, thus
infringing the forbidden degrees of kinship between partners. [27-3]
1511
Colin's eldest son colm was granted some of the MacEachern lands, including Killellan.
We know that Colin was still alive at that date, as the grant included a provision
that he should be allowed to enjoy the fruits of these lands for his lifetime.
[27-3]
1512, April 22 a Petition, dates from King James IV to Pope Julius
II, proposed the transfer of the bishopric from the island of Lismore to Saddell,
and a new Cathedral at Saddell that the Castle had been completed by that
time and was then in a condition for occupation as a Bishop's residence. Papers
that did not reach its destination and would have more likely have been found
in the State Papers and among the letters of King Henry VIII. [17-2]
1512-1556
No records of the fate and fortune of Saddell appear to exist
for the period. Clan Donald came to take a particular interest in Antrim during
the 15th century. Based at Dunyveg in Islay, Iain Mor Tanaister the second son
of John, first Lord of the Isles, was described as 'dominus de Dunwage et de Glynns',
the additional title coming through marriage with the heiress to the Glens of
Antrim. [13-6]
1513 Clan Donald, deriving from Donald the grandson of Somerled,
makes a surprising and dramatic appearance upon the scene. The last Lord of the
Isles and head of the Clan Donald, John of Islay, had been forfeited by King James
III in 1475; he had been later partially restored to grace and possession, but
was finally forfeited by King James IV in 1493.
1513 King James IV died
at the battle of Flodden on the 9th September, leaving a son and heir of one yeare
and more indecision over the next earl. It is probable that the Bishop, David
Hamilton, took up residence in the new Castle of Saddell, if for no other reason
than to be near his family relations, the Earls of Arran, and their possessions
just across the waters of Kilbrannan Sound. [17-2]
1525 Colin’s second son
Andrew had succeeded him, but there is no record of Colin's death. [27-3]
1556
Bishop James Hamilton, half-brother of the Earl of Arran and Duke of Chatelherault,
in return for money advanced to him by the Earl and for crown taxes, conveyed
the whole estate of Saddell to the Earl for a payment of 48 merks, 13 shillings,
four pence, per annum, the estate lands amounting to 48 merklands of old extent.
The Clan Donald re-entered into Kintyre history; James MacDonald of Dun Naomhaig
(Dunniveg) in Islay held also certain lands in Arran. An excambion was arranged
between him and the Earl of Arran, by which he surrendered his Arran lands and
received in return the whole lands of Saddell, on condition that he paid the feudal
dues, assisted in the uplifting of rents and teinds in Kintyre, refrained from
any interference in the affairs of Arran, and granted the full hospitality of
the house of' Saddell to the Earl, the Bishop, and his successors, whenever they
should be in Kintyre and require the same. By this double transfer of the estate,
first by Bishop James Hamilton to the Earl of Arran and then by the Earl to James
MacDonald, Saddell became a secular barony and lost its ecclesiastical status.
[17-2]
1558 Two years
after James MacDonald enjoyed the new peace of his possession, there took place
the raid of Thomas Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex, Lord Deputy of Ireland under Mary
Tudor of England. [17-2]
1575 July 22nd The
MacDonalds of Dunnivaig and the Glens took the second part of their title from
the Glens of Antrim, acquired through the marriage of Ian Mor, brother of Donald,
2nd Lord of the Isles, with Margery Bisset, daughter of John Bisset, Lord of the
Glens. The family survived the forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles but towards
the end of the sixteenth century it split through internal dissension and external
aggression. Sorley Boy (ie Buidhe or yellow haired Somerled), youngest Son of
Alexander of Dunnivaig and the Glens, and uncle of Angus, who lived in the House
of Askomel, decided at the expense of his nephews to take possession of the family's
Antrim lands and if possible to extend them. This he did by, in turn, offering
his services to Queen Elizabeth against the native Irish, and uniting with the
Irish against the English. In 1575, according to the English view, he was in rebellion
against his liege lady Elizabeth. The English army continued their campaign of
horror and turned into Antrim from Tyrone. Giant’s Causeway is the name of the
island Rathlin. Here it was that Sorley Boy and the other Scots hid their wives
and children when Essex came to Antrim after Lord Essex heard of it. He then ordered
John Norreys to take company and cross to the Island where the Scots minded the
women and children. Afterward Essex boasted in consequence of six hundred. Two
sons of Sorley Boy survived. James VI and I knighted both and the younger son
Ranald was created Viscount Dunluce and later first Earl of Antrim. [27-6]
1588
colm and Archibald McNeill, two of the sons of Lachlan McNeill Buidhe of Tirfergus.
A lease of 1694 to Blayney Townley and Archibald and colm Macneale of the lordship
of Ballymascanlon indicates they had held the land for the previous year.
1558
May 31, Lord Deputy Sussex wrote from Kilmainham, Dublin, to the Privy Council
in London, stating that James MacDonnell had landed in the North of Ireland with
a band of his followers and two pieces of ordnance, and that he had taken measures
to counteract him by putting a force of fifty good soldiers into Knocfergus. Again
wrote to Secretary Boxoll reporting that James MacConnell returned into Scotland
with his ordnance. (English documents of that period MacDonald is nearly always
written "McConnell" - an attempt by the scribes to give a phonetic rendering
of the Gaelic form of the name) [17-2]
1558 Colla, the brother of James
MacDonald died in May. While in Ireland, James made disposition of that considerable
tract of land known as the Rowt or Route, comprising the north-west corner of
the modern County Antrim. James thereupon offered it to his brothers Alexander
and Angus in turn, whom both refused; and lastly to the famous Sorley Boy (Somhairle
Buidhe), who accepted; of whom Sussex says that "he only of all the brethern
remaineth in this realm". The descendants of Sorley Boy remain to this day
as Earls of Antrim. [17-2]
1558 May 5th, Mary Queen of Scots
and Francis her husband issued a charter re-granting to him lands in the barony
of Bar in Kintyre, and in Islay, in respect of which the original charters and
other writs had been lost by war and fire, in consideration of the notable service
tendered to her and to the Realm of Scotland in defence of the said kingdom and
its liberties, and in Ireland against our old enemies of England ("contra
veteres nostros Anglie hostes"). All this was antecedent to the raid by Lord
Deputy Sussex, and the lost writs and charters must have been destroyed during
earlier troubles in which the heads of the Clan Donald had been involved. [17-2]
1558
June, Conn Ó Neill, Earl of Tyrone, wrote to Queen Mary of England desiring
letters to be sent to the Lord Deputy of Ireland to ransom or procure the liberation
of his Countess, his son Conn Ó Neill, and Barnaby the son of the Baron
of Dungannon, all of whom James MacDonald had held prisoners in Scotland for two
and a half years. [17-2]
1558, Sept 13th On Sept. 13th
1558 Ó Neill reported the arrival of the ships destined for the expedition
against the Western coast and Islands of Scotland. The ships had arrived on Sept.
1st, and Sussex states that he is now ready to sail, "trustyng to accomplysh
your Hyghnes commandment yf wynd and wether serve". On Oct. 3rd he wrote
again, being then on board the "Mary Willoughby". He states that he
set sail from Dublin on Sept. 14th, and arrived in Cantyre on the 19th, "where
I landed and burned the hole countrye". He then went on to Arran and the
Cumbraes, where he did the same. He intended to go to Bute, but when riding at
anchor between Cumbrae and Bute " there rose suddenly a terrybell tempeste
in whyche I sustained some losse". On Oct. 6th he was back at Knockfergus
and went on to the harbour of Olderflete, now Lame, from which he wrote another
letter to Queen Mary Tudor, amplifying the information already given in his previous
letters. He states: "The xiiijth (Sept) I imbarked in the Bryttain rode by
Dublin, and so having a scarce wynde, arrived the xixth in Lowghe Gilkeran in
Kyntyre. The same daye I landed and burned eight myles of leynght, and therewith
James McConnelles chief house called Saudell, a fayre pyle and a stronge. The
neixte day I crossed over the lande and burned twelve myles a leynght on the other
side of the lowghe, wherin were burned a fayre howse of his called Mawher Imore
(Machrimore) and a stronge castell called Donalvere (Dunaverty). The third daye
I returned another waye to the shipps ". [17-2]
1558, Nov 17 The expedition
was not renewed. Queen Mary Tudor died on the 17th Nov. 1558, and Sorley Boy and
his successors in Antrim found it more to their advantage to keep on the side
of the new Queen Elizabeth. [17-2]
1558 The raid on Kintyre by the Earl
of Sussex. The estate of Saddell remained in Macdonald possession until 1607,
when all the Clan Donald lands in Kintyre, including Saddell, were conveyed by
James VI to Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll and founder of the Burgh of
Campbeltown. [17-2]
1559 Queen Elizabeth wrote to McDonnell (Sorley Boy)
from Westminster commending his fidelity and diligent service, which had been
reported to her by the Earl of Sussex. James Macdonald, whose houses of Saddell
and Machrimore were burned by Sussex in 1558, was killed in the Glens of Antrim
in 1565 in a battle with Shane Ó Neill. His brother, Sorley Boy, was captured
by Ó Neill but was soon set at liberty. He took advantage of the confusion
of the times to seize the Irish estates of James, which together with the Islay
patrimony should have gone to Angus, the younger son of James. [17-2]
1594
Hector McNeill of Carskey, Sir James McDonald, he actually
signed a bond of manrent at Killeonan, when others had their hands 'led on the
pen'. McNeill played a key role during a period when control of Kintyre was in
dispute between two sons of the Earl of Argyll: Lord Lorne by one marriage, Lord
Kintyre by another. The second Countess belonged to the English family of Cornwallis
and was a Catholic. As a young man in 1594 Argyll had led his followers to unexpected
defeat at Glenlivet against a much sler army of Gordons and Hays. The Earl embraced
his second wife's religion and entered the service of the king of Spain in the
Netherlands in 1617, There he met another exile, Sir James McDonald, and the two
appear to have agreed a compromise on the former lands of Clan Donald in south-west
Scotland
1598 Archibald MacDonald of Sanda like Hector McNeill was
already a Catholic when the missionaries landed. [13-9]
1601 The battle of Kinsale 1601 saw completion of England and Spain in
alliance against France; Scotland and France in alliance against England and Spain.
James MacDonald had any part in this continental conflict, but he was taking a
very active part in the troubles in Ireland against the English. The Tudor reconquest
of Ireland, as it was called, was in full course. It had begun under Henry VIII,
continued under Edward IV, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and is described by a gathering
from the State Papers of Ireland. [17-2]
1602 The whole mercenary movement
came to an end with the final English conquest of Ireland at the battle of Kinsale.
Most members of the galloglass families must have lost their Irish estates in
the general debacle that followed. To this date also may be assigned the beginning
of the severance of the old relations and the break-up of the old community of
interests, which had existed for centuries between Ireland and the West Highlands.
These men became known as 'Redshanks', and are to be clearly distinguished from
the older type. Their commanders did not belong to the hereditary galloglass families,
and they did not receive grants of land, or settle in Ireland. [16-10]
divided
Highlands: when the RES ANGUSTA DOMI, imposed on several important Highland families
by forfeiture or by other causes, produced a supply of men willing to serve as
mercenary leaders. In adopting this policy the Irish were introducing no innovation,
for the hired mercenary had been a feature of the military history of western
Europe for centuries before. They had definite advantages over either the general
or the feudal levies for, as the history of England or Scotland shows, the former
were often ill-trained and liable to desert, while the latter were often of doubtful
loyalty. The mercenary, on the other hand, so long as he received his pay, remained
loyal to his employer; he was well-trained and properly armed, and so ready for
any sudden call on his services. The heraldic motte of the Macdonald galloglasses
in Ireland was 'TOUJOURS PRETS,' always ready. [16-10]
1603 James Stuart,
who became Supreme Governor of the Church of England in 1603, was involved in
the Franciscan mission to Scotland and Queen Ann of Denmark, recently converted
in Scotland, practiced her Catholic religion in secret. The possibility of Kintyre
being legally returned to the McDonalds remained alive throughout the period of
the mission, with Lord Kintyre granting a charter to that effect at Dunaverty
in 1635. At the time of the Franciscan landing Hector McNeill controlled not only
the extensive lands of Carskey but also, with royal approval, the newly built
castle at Lochhead. That place became Campbeltown in name and fact, however, when
Lord Lorne succeeded as Marquis of Argyll. [13-9]
1607 The ancient history
of Saddell comes to an end with the transfer of the estate to the 7th Earl of
Argyll [17-2]
1609c. Campbell expansion began to take effect. On both the
Campbeltown and Inveraray crosses, whatever the original relationship of Rood
to foliage the end-result is remarkably similar In both cases the stones were
removed from their original sites to serve as market crosses in the important
Campbell settlements of Campbeltown and Inveraray . As took place at the same
time the Protestant family of Argyll his seen from the economic success of Lowland
burghs into a Highland context. Settlements at Campbeltown and Inveraray
were encouraged and eventually erected into burghs. Lowland farmers and craftsmen
were brought in from Ayrshire and south-west Scotland, families like the Ralstons
and Dunlops in Kintyre or the Shaws in Inveraray.[13-9]
1611, Duncan Omey
became minister of Kilcolmkill, a long established Kintyre family of whom many
were ecclesiastics. The name Omey is derived from Gaelic "miadh" meaning
respect or esteem and is still found in the area. John Omey is recorded as being
tacksman in Christlach in 1505. Cornelius Omey graduated B.A. from St. Andrews
in 1528 and was Rector of the neighbouring Kilblaan Parish at the time of the
Reformation in 1560. Donald Omey, a brother of the above Duncan, was minister
of Kingarth, Bute and afterwards was appointed to the Parish of Kilkerran (now
Campbeltown). [25-10]
1615-1625 The Campbells of Calder or Cawdor (near
Nairn) were linked with what became an occasionally Catholic branch of the family
at Lochnell or Muckairn (near Oban). The extent of Calder's conversion is indicated
by the fact that he had come to take possession of Islay during the first period
of Campbell expansion and he played his own part in driving out McDonald supporters
and also destroyed Catholic images and was received into the Church on Islay as
well as his son Robert, his brother's wife whose husband was a Catholic, and another
relative who was Calder's heir' - all by Patrick Hegarty. Also involved in 'labyrinthine
plottings' over Islay at the time of the 1615 McDonald rising was the crypto-Catholic
Earl of Dunfermline who was James VI's Chancellor in Scotland. There is a cave
on that hilly island with several dozen crosses scraped on the wall, and these
have been suggested as evidence of the Franciscan presence in Argyll. Some
records posit more conversions than actual Catholics sent to Rome. [30-3]
1617
a Commission of the Scottish Parliament united the parishes of Kilcolmkill and
Kilblaan and Duncan Omey became the first minister of the new parish, which was
later to be re-named Southend. There is no record of any manse at Kilcolmkill,
and the Rev. Duncan Omay resided in Keil House, which his family had tenanted
for many years. Five years later the Bishop of Argyll granted a charter of the
lands of Keil to the minister, as recorded in the Argyll Sasine Particular Register,
a Charter was written by John Craig, notary in Glasgow and was signed there on
15th May, 1622 before witnesses [25-10]
1617 Bishop Andrew Knox of the Isles
put Duncan Omey in charge of Kilcolmkill (close to where the missionaries landed)
The Rev. Donald Omey (perhaps his brother) left Kilkivan for Ardnamurchan in 1624(34),
but could have been the convert's friend. Church records for the period are scant,
and the fact that there was an active minister on Gigha only emerges from Franciscan
records. Kintyre was not one of those areas of the Highlands where the absence
of ministers made a priest's work easy, and Patrick Hegarty minister had
an assistant whom the Franciscans converted along with his son. The difficulties
of the mission were emphasised by the friar who stayed closest to Ireland…
1624
three Franciscan priests, Patrick Hegarty, Cornelius Ward and Paul Ó Neill,
crossed from Antrim in Ireland to Kintyre in Scotland by way of the island of
Sanda. They were welcomed to Carskey on the south coast by Hector McNeill, a Catholic.
The Franciscans of Louvain shared the faith and the language of their forebears,
and these attributes were to take them north to the Uists and inland to Glengarry
in a mission, which lasted until the outbreak of civil war in three kingdoms.
It was successful in a number of areas, which are still predominantly Catholic
but not, despite a promising start, in Kintyre. Twenty young men had volunteered
at St Anthony's College, Louvain, in the Spanish Netherlands.[13-9]
1624
A Father McCann’s visit to the Hebrides places the date earlier than the arrival
of the Franciscan Monks as though their arrival is earlier about the extent to
which Irish and Scots Gaelic- speakers could understand each other, but Patrick
Hegarty (later proposed as Irish bishop for the Scottish Gaidhealtachd was in
charge when the mission came to Kintyre: In a day, Hegarty and his companions
left Ireland for Scotland and landed in a day on the Island of Sanda. In all from
Antrim, efforts were beyond South Kintyre and Cara and a widow among the McDonalds
of Largie, where there was still a Catholic allegiance in 1689.
1637 Wars
of Montrose. Archibald Macdonald of Sanda commanded the previously mentioned fortress
of Dunaverty, when it came under seige by David Leslie and his men. The Massacre
of Dunaverty was incidental to the garrison surrendered. Archibald Mohr's grandson,
Ranald and his nurse Flora McCambridge were the only survivors. Ranald survived
his uncle as clan chieftain and married into the Stewarts of Bute [16-4]
1640
iconoclasm was given official blessing by an act of the General Assembly,
which was followed by an Act of Parliament. [17-4]
1647 Invernay or
Campbeltown Cross: The surname MEICGYLLICHOMGNAN found in the inscription
is a name associated with West rather than East Argyll but also occurs in a list
of those massacred at Dunaverty. Kintyre. There happens to be a medieval grave-slab
at Kilkivan, only a few miles from Dunaverty, which carries the name M(A)CILLCCACHEN,
Scotticised to MacCowan. This man was a priest and his name is a variant of MEICGYLLICHOMGNAN,
literally 'son of devotee of Comgan' - a saint of the Early Irish Church. Sculptural
associations and from the names in the inscription, that the Inveraray Cross originally
stood in Southend, Kintyre. The Campbeltown Cross is thought to have come from
Kilkivan although, upon equating the 'Kylkecan' found in the inscription with
the Kilkivan found in Kintyre [17-4]
McCollas
Army: the MacGillicomgans were connected with the Southend area; that one
of the family became a priest at Kilkivan in the 15th century; that other members
are named on the Inveraray Cross and that three more were massacred at Dunaverty
in 1647 after joining MacColla's army Priests. In mediaeval times, MacDonald territory
was often drawn from particular families of patrons of Saddell and Iona
and the MacGillicomgans would have been of the residual Highland stock of Kintyre
who so resented the Campbell and Lowland plantations of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Local patrons like the MacGillicomgans and the MacDonalds of Sanda (who also suffered
in the massacre), were no longer able to give the church or its crosses the necessary
protection and support. In the burial-ground we find memorials not only to traditional
families like the MacDonalds of Sanda but also, from the late 17th century, to
the families of Lowland incomers such as the Ralstons and Maxwells. Such men would
have welcomed MacColla's campaign of revenge in Kintyre and seized the chance
to settle old scores, many of the Marquis of Argyll's traditional opponents. the
Marquis of Argyll was responsible for some destruction of monuments in the islands
and on lona prior to 1644. Iconoclasm made it inconceivable that the Marquis would
have transferred crosses to his two main settlements without first defacing them
at the advent of announcing himself a Covenanter in 1638 [17-4]
After
1609 Gilleasbuig Gruamach 7th Earl of Argyll was confirmed in his ownership of
Kintyre by the Scottish Privy Council in an Act which specified (ineffectively,
as it turned out) that no land should be held by McDonalds or their dependants;
these are listed, with 53 names including McAllister, Mackay, Macoshenag, McEachan
and McEachran, McNeills were also included, which helps to explain the strategy
of the Franciscan enterprise thirteen years later
1648 Inveraray was promoted
to a royal burgh. The Southend cross is not the only mediaeval cross to have traveled
to Inveraray; there is also the Kirkapoll cross from Tiree [17-4]
1650
Nearly a century after the Sussex raid, the Saddell lands were given in tack by
the Marquis of Argyll to William Ralston of that ilk, with the castle as his house
[17-2]
1659 The estate (Keil) passed to James Omey in 1659 and then, in
1682, a further charter from Hector, Bishop of Argyll granted the lands of Kilcolmkill
to a James Omey of Collinlongart, his heirs and assignees, then passed to his
son James, as recorded in the Register of Sasines for Argyll and Dumbarton on
12th, 1754, In 1778 James was succeeded by his son, Archibald. In their time at
Keil, the McLarty's were one of only seven landowners in Southend; the others
being the Duke of Argyll, William MacDonald of Ballyshear, John McMillan McNeil
of Carskey, Donald MacMillan of Lephenstrath, George McNeill of Ugadale and Wm.
McDonald of Sanda. [25-10]
500c-1670 From Keil Point there is an uninterupted
view of the Antrim coast from wherein the early centuries of the Christian era
the Scots began to colonise Kintyre. Around 500 A.D. the Gaelic-speaking race
founded the kingdom of Dalriada, under their leader Fergus, in what we now call
Argyll. "Saint Columba's Footprints" Immediately behind the foot prints
one can still identify the outline of a sl building, which was, perhaps, a crude
cell (or church) erected by Columba and his followers. Nearby there are the remains
of a large church surrounded by a graveyard on three sides. This church was built
in the twelfth or thirteenth century and was dedicated to Saint Columba. In the
early fourteenth century possession by the building was granted to the Priory
of Whithorn by Patrick Macshillinger and Finlach, his wife, in a charter confirmed
by King Robert the Bruce. [25-10]