The Lordship of the Isles

The Lordship of the Isles was a Gaelic-Norse state which existed either independently or as a nominal vassal of Scotland or Norway, always retaining its right to govern itself. It was carved out of the Kingdom of Mann, and at its peak it owned land from Kintyre to Antrim to Inverness and the Butt of Lewis - a realm larger than that the Kings of Scotland had under their control. With a unique culture and society, and a fascinating history, the Lordship of the Isles has also made an immense contribution to worldwide society today. America would not be independent if it was not for the hands of men descended from Clan Donald that signed the Declaration of Independence, for example.

But what was the Lordship of the Isles? How was it created? How did it fall? When did it even exist, and why?

When Did the Lordship Exist?

In its original form, before its leaders signed themselves as the Lords of the Isles and before the Macdonald dynasty came to rule from Loch Finlaggan, the Lordship of the Isles was carved out of the Kingdom of Mann, a Norse-Manx dynasty already well-established as one of the strongest in the Irish Sea.

Somerled (Somhairle) acquired the islands around the Scottish mainland, and styled himself King of Argyll. He was a man assumed to be of mixed Norse-Gaelic descent, whose ancestry is unknown. He seems to have been a nobleman, possibly descended from either Irish tribal royalty or a Norse chief, or both.

At this time, the Kingdom of Argyll was not the only anti-feudal state to border Scotland. It was alongside Galloway, Moray, Norse Caithness, and Orkney, amongst a few others.

Somerled, quite likely alongside Fergus of Galloway (also assumed a Norse-Gael, but who may also have been of Strathclyde-Welsh or ancient British descent) with a separate assault, led an army with soldiers from the Isle of Lewis to Dublin in an attack on the lands of the powerful Stewarts, who, although they would not be the rulers of Scotland for centuries, were already making claims to the lands of the kingdoms and states that surrounded them.

The Battle of Renfrew, 1164, was a catastrophe, and it served only to destroy the pride the Gallgaels had acquired from their suicidal charge at the Battle of the Standard. Somerled and his son were killed in the battle, probably before it had barely begun (some sources claim they were assassinated before it), and one of the weaknesses of tanistry (the Celtic way of determining new leaders) became apparent.

With no single heir named by Somerled, it fell to three sons by Raghnild (Olaf was not eligible for some reason, and Gilla Bridge(servant of St. Bridget) had been slain at Renfrew) to divide his lands between them. They were Dugald, Ranald, and Angus (Ranald had two sons, Domnall and Ruaidri (Donald and Ruari), who would become the ancestors of the chiefs of Clan Macdonald and Clan MacRuari. Dugald, Ranald's brother, is the ancestor of the chiefs of Clan Macdougall).

The Lordship of the Isles, or the Kingdom of Argyll as it was in Somerled's day, disintegrated. It would be, for a while, not powerful enough to wield control over anything but Islay.

When Was the Lordship Reborn?

In 1263 Alexander III of Scots fought and defeated the Norse at Largs, inflicting a harsh blow to Norse hopes of dominance in the Highlands and Ireland. The Treaty of Perth secured Scotland's domination over the Western Isles, at least on paper.

The Lordship of the Isles as it would be known for the rest of the Middle Ages emerged to fill the power vacuum which was created with the loss of the Norse, and before Scotland realised a new state had emerged in the lands it had just fought for - and a state that wielded equal power to that of the Scottish king.

At this time, Clan Macdougall was the dominant power in the Highlands, ruling the Lordship of the Isles. They would become the allies of Scotland, however, being just as eager to keep the Norse from returning and thus keep their independence and power.

But between 1263 and 1314, the situation would change in the Isles, and Clan Donald, rather than Clan Macdougall, would become the ruling dynasty.

Angus Macdonald was the ruler of the Lordship of the Isles when the Wars of Independence raged on. Edward I of England was no threat to him. His quarrel was with the Scots.

Nevertheless, Angus Macdonald had to choose sides. He had many reasons for choosing Scotland - the Norse were still a threat to his rule, and, although he had taken at least as much territory as he had been gifted and thus ruled over a coastal empire from Islay to Lewis, he still wanted more. And the Macdougalls, who still could rally support in the Isles, were now at the mercy of the Scottish king - and actively opposing him.

The quick way to destroy them without risking his own soldiers and power was to assist the Scots in their victory.

As we know, the Scots won the Wars of Independence, and again the true profit from their victory was taken by the Gaelic dynasties.

Angus Macdonald was successful in every way imaginable. Despite he and Bruce being of similar character - that is, ambitious and both serving no-one but themselves - he had managed to obtain a lot of land as a reward, with royal charters. Although the latter was meaningless to him, with both himself and Bruce knowing that the Lordship of the Isles was independent, he could use it to prove he had a say in Scottish affairs.

He had also created an alliance that would guarantee security from any Norse or English invasion. Even if the Scots broke an alliance, which would be foolish when faced with a state of similar power, they would have to deal with hostile Highland clans (of whom the Lordship of the Isles was something of a guardian, or at least was in its own eyes, and who were never friends of the Scots to begin with), and the fleets of galleys which could defeat the navy of Scotland and England combined. Angus and his clansmen also gained trading rights with Lowland markets. The Lordship of the Isles was free to prosper, and it did so, sparing no expense in the process.

The Macdonald-Stewart Conflict

By the time the Stewarts took the Scottish throne, the Lordship of the Isles was a superpower. Its population was easily that of all the major counties in Scotland put together, and every male citizen was an armed man with martial birth. Not only that, but Scotland could not defeat the Isles no matter the size of its army, because of that fact that it had no navy. The Lordship of the Isles now had more galleys than it knew what to do with, trading across the Irish Sea, North Sea, and importing goods from Cornwall and Wales as well as Britanny and further afield.

In comparison to this cosmopolitan merchant-warrior state, Scotland was a poor country, relying on money instead of cattle for wealth, and with Lowland nobles and Border reivers either more powerful than the King or entirely uncontrollable.

Even so, the memories of Renfrew had not been forgotten. They would not be, either.

Scotland had long been a feudal state, but only after the Stewarts took the throne did it make active attempts to subdue the Highlanders and their culture. The alliance between Scotland and the Lordship of the Isles fell apart overnight - it could have no further practical use for the Lordship.

Initially, the Lordship did nothing but work on marriage alliances with the Highland clans and Irish kings, peacefully forming an anti-Stewart faction whilst the Stewarts got to work on Scotland's military. It adopted some elements of feudalism where appropriate, but otherwise acted mostly in blatant defiance of the Scots - they were an independent state, after all, and saw no reason why they couldn't.

In fact, war only ever came due to a dispute over the Earldom of Ross, which included Skye (long occupied by Clan Donald anyway) and Inverness, the mercantile capital of northern Scotland, between the Lords of the Isles and the Duke of Albany, and even then it was fleeting and inconclusive.

How Did the Lordship Fall?

Scotland also made allies in the Highlands. The most powerful of these, and indeed the most powerful clan of all besides Clan Donald itself, was Clan Campbell. They were related to Clan Donald's old ally, Robert the Bruce, and their leadership clearly had his traits.

With them enforcing Scotland's will in the Highlands, despite them being Gaels themselves, the Highland clans quickly became more reluctant to fight for the Lordship of the Isles.

However, the Lordship had obtained Ross after all, and this led to problems of its own. John, the last Lord of the Isles to wield power, had fallen out of favour with his vassals and other neighbouring clans. The Lordship of the Isles was vast. Civil disputes were now more common than they had ever been, and with John's absense the local rulers had more power.

John appealed to England. He had a plan to divide Scotland between its conquerors. But England had no such plans. They were weaker than Scotland at this point in history, and the rulers of both nations were closely related. The English told the Scottish king of John's plot, and John was declared a traitor and his lands forfeited.

Not able to control his empire, and face enemies from Clan Donald's ranks and from across the British Isles, John submitted.

Clan Campbell quickly took almost all of the Lordship's land, and had its powers revoked. The Lordship of the Isles disintegrated just as it had done after Somerled was killed at Renfrew, except this time the tanists were born enemies.

Donald Dubh fought a war for his birthright the next century, but did not make it to the Highlands to lead his army. He was not a fit man, and in fact did not make it any nearer Islay than Donegal.