2. Religion: Many West Highlanders are still Catholic in the seventeenth century: “there is ample evidence to indicate . . . a lingering religious link with Ireland” [Martin, p. 101; Fraser, p. 29; Williams, p. 114].

3. Menstrie family established in Antrim: A family of Alexanders claiming descent from the house of Menstrie settles in Ireland in the 17^th century; its heads ultimately become earls of Caledon [Grant, p. 148; Montcreiffe, p. 63].

1602/3: Tarbert raids on Bute:The heir-apparent of Tarbert (Archibald), along with Campbel of Auchinbreck, Colin Campbel of Kilberry, and McNeill of Taynish, leads 1,200 men in raids on Bute [Clan, p. 205; Mitchell, pp. 73, 75; Fraser, pp. 12-3]; according to Castleton, the raiders are apparently aided and abetted, covertly, by the Earl of Argyll; Fraser says that “most of them” are “the Earl of Argyll’s men”. On their arrival they procee[d] first to damage the property of Marion Stewart, and to harry her lands of Wester Kames.  Thence they pas[s] on to the lands of Ninian Stewart, Sheriff of the County, where all sorts of atrocities [a]re committed. The raiders being vassals of Argyll, that nobleman [i]s accountable to the Council for their behaviour, and when he and they [a]re summoned to appear and fai[l] to do so, all of them—the Earl, Archibald MacAlasdair, and the other delinquents—[a]re ordered to be denounced as rebels. With this denunciation, which [i]s apparently inoperative so far as punishing the guilty [i]s concerned, the episode appears to have closed” [Castleton, p. 168; Clan, p. 24; Fraser, pp. 13-4].

1601:  (29 May) Thomas McAllester of Drummaquhen (Perthshire) and several others are convicted of 'lese-majesty' for having 'treasonably' counterfeited money. Their goods and lands are forfeit and they are 'executed to the death' [RSP, 1604/4/22].

1603:  1. Union of Crowns[1]: William Alexander of Menstrie follows James VI to London, where he serves as tutor to the crown prince, Henry ["News", no. 31, p. 2; "Fortiter", June 1982, p. 2; Castleton, p. 174].

2. At this time the king’s attention is “so much occupied in preparing for his peace- able accession to the throne of England, that the disorders in every part of the Highlands and Isles [a]re allowed to increase to a serious height” [Gregory, p. 303]. Once on the throne, however, with increased resources at his disposal, James VI/I begins again to attempt to tame the Highlands [ibid., p. 304].

3. A Ferquhar Mackallister is on record in Dunzean Crov (Records of Inverness, II, p. 6; ed. by William Mackay and H.C.Boyd [Aberdeen: 1911-14], 2 vol.) [Black, p. 450].

1605:   1. Most MacAlasdair lands lost

(13^th June) Privy Council orders Archibald of Tarbert and Godfrey of Loup[2], along with other Highland lairds, “to find sureties for the payment of Crown rents, on pain of having their titles declared null and void, and being denounced as rebels.” Loup is, apparently, one of the few who turn up as ordered, and he “receive[s] titles from Argyll for his lands of Loup and others during th[is] year” [Castleton, p. 169; Clan, p. 205; Gregory, p. 308]. The Council record lists Godfrey of Loup among several chiefs made responsible for keeping other Kintyre lairds in line; this allows him to keep the lands for which he has charters from Argyll, but his other possessions are forfeited to the Crown.

2. By this year, McAllister or McAlester "is . . . becoming fixed as a surname" in Kintyre [A I B Stewart, "Evolution of Gaelic Surnames in Kintyre", Kintyre Magazine, issue 24 (December 1988)]. 

1606: 1. Death of Godfrey of Loup ["Fortiter", Jan. 1982, p. 3] 

2. Despite Angus MacDonald’s payment of arrears and various offers of settle- ment to the government, in November Lord Scone and the Earl of Argyll draw up conditions under which the Crown lands of Kintyre are to be given in feu to Argyll. The Earl, in addition to rental payment for the land, pledges himself to make his new tenants behave themselves. He also pledges to oust any broken men by the name of Macdonald or Maclean, and to let no lands to anyone of the name Mac- donald. In this way “the vexed question [i]s settled at last, Argyll receiving a legal title to the lands of Kintyre which, as Sir James Macdonald stated, had been in the possession of his forebears for six hundred years” [McKerral, p. 19; Gregory, pp. 310-11].

1607:  1. (24 Sept.) Charter granted to William of Menstrie gives him “the minerals and metals of every kind with the lands and barony of Menstrie, one-tenth of the pro- ceeds being payable to the sovereign” [Castleton, p. 174].

2. “Sir William Erskine of Balgonie, commonly called the Parson of Campsie, receive[s] a Royal warrant for an Exchequer pension of £200 a year to be shared with his son-in-law, William Alexander, and it [i]s stipulated that after Erskine’s death half the amount should continue to be payable to his son-in-law” [Castleton, p. 174].

3. In this year, “the Crown lands of Kintyre pas[s] finally from the hereditary control of Clan Donald into the hands of Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll.” This enables the government to act on its 1597 decision to effect the plantation of Kintyre [Martin, p. 1; Webb].

4. Burgh of Campbeltown established. John and Julia Keay consider this the beginning of the Kintyre Plantation, as do Angus Martin and Andrew McKerral: “The erection of the Burgh of Lochhead . . . [i]s undoubtedly the first step in the Lowland Plantation of Kintyre. . . . Such evidence as we possess points to the earliest incomers to Lochhead being from Bute and the Cumbraes. The Ayrshire and Renfrewshire contingent came later” [McKerral, pp. 26-7].

1608:   William Alexander and a relative, Walter Alexander, are granted authority to uplift all arrears of taxes due the Crown for a set period of time, on the sum of which they [a]re to receive a commission of one half [Castleton, p. 174]. Whether or not they ever benefit from this is unknown.

1609:   Attack on the traditional Gaelic way of life begins this year with the institution of the Statutes of Iona and with the plantations of Ulster and Kintyre.

            1. Statutes of Iona

This ‘agreement’ is essentially forced upon the most powerful (and troublesome) of the west Highland chiefs, including MacDonald of Dunnyveg and his foe Mac- lean. Its long-term effects are devastating to Gaelic culture, some elements of which are banned outright, among them the tradition of lavish hospitality, keeping bards, bearing arms, and sheltering fugitives. Ultimately more significant are the requirements that the chiefs provide Protestant ministers for their people and that their heirs (sons or daughters) be educated in the Lowlands, where they will learn English and (it is hoped by the government) be converted to Protestant religion. Thus begins a cultural divide that eventually alienates the chiefs from their clans- men, leading to the later, often brutal, Highland Clearances (see note at 1852). “There is no room to doubt that the chiefs who follo[w] Montrose in the great civil war [a]re actuated by a very different spirit from their fathers; and it is well worthy of notice that this difference [i]s produced in the course of a single generation, by the operation of measures which first beg[i]n to take effect after the year 1609" [Gregory, p. 333].

2. Plantations in Ulster and Kintyre: By now it is clear to the powers that be that “Ireland and Scotland [a]re part of the same ‘problem’ that thwart[s] conquest. Gaelic chieftains in Ireland [a]re dependent upon professional mercenaries from Gaelic Scotland. . . . Not only d[oes] one branch of the Clan Donald control the Scottish coastline across from Ulster, another branch [i]s highly successful in expanding their lands in northern Ireland itself” [Newton, p. 60].

—As a result, Ulster, the crucial link between Irish and Scottish Gaeldom, [i]s broken, and the “planting of burghs filled with loyal Protestant subjects [i]s planned, and in a few cases carried out, in the Highlands.” This is not an unqualified suc- cess: “Not only d[o] attempts between 1598 and 1609 . . . to colonize the Isle of Lewis fail, but the attempt to replace Gaels by Lowlanders in Kintyre result[s] in many of the Lowlanders going native. On the whole, however, the plantations [a]re effective” [Newton, p. 60].

—“The Lowland colonisation of Kintyre [i]s carried out with relatively little risk. That plantation [i]s essentially a political action, and may in its objectives – if not its consequences – be compared with the contemporaneous and ultimately disas- trous settlement of English and Lowland Scots on forfeited lands in Ulster” [Martin, p. 1; Keay, p. 556].

—In this year, Argyll obtains “a Decreet of the Lords of Council to eject a list of Kintyre tenants. There [a]re fifty-three names in the list, and all the old tenants— Macneills, Macallasters, Mackays, Macoshenags, Maceachans, and Maceachrans and others are included” [McKerral, p. 27, emphasis mine]. George Hill, in his book Macdonnells of Antrim (Belfast, 1873), describes a “‘clean sweep’ of all the old inhabitants of Kintyre” [p. 206]. Although this would suggest that a general clear- ance was made at this point, subsequent rentals, where the names of the old Highland tenants “occur side by side with those of Lowlanders” indicate that such did not take place, and some of these old families are later granted charters for their lands from the Earl’s successors [McKerral, ibid.].

—Two charters for lands in Kintyre are granted by Argyll to John Boyll of Balloch-martin in Greater Cumbrae; these charters are now held by the National Library of Scotland. Among the obligations accepted by Boyll is a clause forbidding him “either to lease or to feu any of the lands of his grant to persons bearing the names of Macconnell or Macdonald, Maclean, Macleod, Macallaster, or Macneill.”[McKerral, p. 27, emphasis mine; Campbell, vol. 2, p. 151]. The charter for Askomilbeg is granted 31 August, but the actual handing over of the property did not take place for another nine years, "an indication that the process of civilising his new lands [i]s not an easy one" [Campbell, ibid.].

1612:   Death of Crown Prince Henry; Sir William of Menstrie is appointed tutor to Henry’s brother, the future Charles I ["News", no. 31, p. 2].

1614:  1. one “Ihone dow” [Iain Dùbh] Mcalaster is described by the Earl of Dunfermline as “the greatest limmer and brokin[3] man in all the north” (Highland Papers, III, p. 172; ed. by J. R. N. Macphail [Edinburgh: 1914–34] 4 vol.) [Black, p. 450]. Note: This name is usually given to the chief, but not exclusively; at this point Godfrey is dead and Hector not yet formally recognised, which explains the absence of the Loup family from the goings on at the time but also makes it likely that this reference is to someone else.

2. (Nov.) Final downfall of the House of Dunnyveg, in which MacAlasdairs are involved. Alexander, “the hero of the Knockransay raid” [i.e., a son of the late Tutor of Loup; see 1599] is supposed to assist Argyll in the capture of the Dunnyveg castle in the name of the king; upon arrival he switches sides, joining Angus Og, leader of the Islay Macdonalds, in defending the castle.[4] He is the principal mem- ber of Clan Alasdair involved in this incident, and “[a]lthough Alexander does not appear as a party to the bond [that ends the siege], . . . his share in the rebellion is shewn in the evidence he g[ives] before the Council in 1615, for the vindication of Angus Og, and he share[s] in the punishments inflicted upon the rebels” [Castleton, p. 169; Pitcairn, vol. III, p. 364]. 

1615:  1. MacAlasdair allies continue in rebellion

While the Privy Council ponder what to do about the recent rebellion, James Macdonald escapes from Edinburgh Castle. “He return[s] to his clansmen in the west and procede[s] to Islay, where he and his followers ret[ake] the Castle of Dunnyveg. Then he passe[s] through Kintyre, inciting his followers to revolt” [McKerral, p. 20]. Eventually the government manages to suppress the rebellion, which King James uses as a pretext to finally get rid of the Islay family and their followers. Ultimately all of the land possessed by the Clan Donald South and its allies, including the Clan Alasdair, is given to Argyll. James Macdonald escapes to Ireland with many of his followers, including MacAlasdairs [Gregory, p. 388]. “After receiving the Castle of Dunyveg and fort of Lochgorme, Argyle succeed[s] in apprehending ten of the principal inhabitants of Isla who [took] part with Sir James. These [a]re instantly brought to trial and executed” [Gregory, p. 387].

            2. (July) Alexander and Angus MacAlister, kinsmen of the chief, hanged

These MacAlisters are found guilty of high treason for the Dunnyveg incident and hanged in Edinburgh, along with Angus Og MacDonald (of the Dunnyveg family); the chief's youth prevents his involvement. All their lands in Islay and Kintyre are forfeited [Pitcairn, vol. III, pp. 364-5; Clan, p. 205; Castleton, p. 169; Stevenson, Highland, p. 41; Gregory, p 374; Paterson, p. 1]. Ranald Og MacAllister, Sorley MacAllister, Angus MacAchane MacAllister, and Donald MacAllister Wrik are “charged with complicity in the taking of Dunnyveg” [Castleton, p. 169] Note: Is this the Angus mentioned in the Privy Council Register of 1600? “Thus terminate[s] the last great struggle made by the once powerful Clandonald of Isla and Kintyre, to retain from the grasp of the Campbells these ancient possessions of their tribe” [Gregory, p 390].

1617:   1. Hector of Loup obtains precept of clare constat[5] from the Earl of Argyll, investing in him the lands of Loup and others.

2. Donald Macalister of Barr is among those commissioned to pursue and appre- hend Alan Cameron of Locheil and his clansmen, “who [a]re at the horn for armed convention and slaughter, and various acts of lawlessness” [Castleton, p. 169; "Fortiter", April 1982, p. 5].

1618:   MacAlasdair chief “named among the principal nobility of Argyll”

The principal nobles of the area “appea[r] before the Council with proposals for keeping the peace within Argyll” [Castleton, p. 169]; Hector, 6^th Laird of Loup, is “made responsible for the government of the county during the absence of the 8^th Earl” [MacKinnon, p. 162].

1620:  1. (11 March) marriage of Hector 6^th of Loup to Margaret Campbell, daughter of Colin Campbell of Kilberry (same as that involved in the Bute raids of 1602?) recorded in the Sasines Register of Argyll ["Fortiter", Jan. 1982, p. 3; Ian MacDonald correspondence].

2. Coll Ciotach MacDonald (of the Colonsay family, a branch of the Dunnyvegs) presents as surety for his promise to live peaceably on his lands Alexander MacDonald of Largie and Hector MacAllister of Loup [Stevenson, Highland, p. 51]. Through most of this century, these three families are found repeatedly in league, for good or ill (see, for ex., 1644, #2; 1647, #2; 1689/90, #1).

3. (16 June) A Neill McEan McAllaster is one of three men found guilty of drowning Donald McAllaster vic Ean vic Henrie [Pitcairn, vol. III, p. 489].

1621:   Sir William Alexander named Viscount of Canada and Baronet of Nova Scotia by James VI/I, who also grants him about 40,000 square miles in eastern Canada for the development of the Nova Scotia colony [CMS, p. 43; "Fortiter", June 1982, p. 2; Castleton, p. 174].

1623:   1. McAlester of Loup named one of Argyllshire’s justices of the peace [Clan, p. 205; Castleton, p. 169]

2. Godfrey, future 5^th of Tarbert, engaged in feuds with “a number of landowners in Renfrew and Ayr, against whom forays [a]re conducted on quite an extensive scale” [Castleton, p. 169; "Fortiter", Feb. 1982, p. 2]. On 7 September bonds of caution are signed that “Godfrey [i]s not to molest these Lowland lieges or their families”, and to keep several others “from molesting Godfrey MacAlister, fiar of Tarbert, and his servants”; on 5 November Godfrey is ordered again to leave certain lairds alone [Castleton, p. 170].

1625:   Charles I, to whom William Alexander was tutor, succeeds James VI/I; he appoints Sir William Alexander Chief Secretary for Scotland[6] and (in a charter dated 12 July) Lieutenant of Nova Scotia [CMS, p. 43; Castleton, p. 154].

1626:   Sir James Macdonald of Dunnyveg dies in London; he is “the last of the male line of the old leading family of the Macdonalds of Kintyre” [McKerral, pp. 21-22].

1627:   1. Sir William Alexander made Keeper of the Signet ["News", no. 33, p. 2; Castleton, p. 175]

2. (14 Jan.) Wm. Alexander acquires Irish citizenship and obtains a grant of 1000 acres in Co. Armagh, “following the example of several Ayrshire landowners who had sought to improve their shattered fortunes by acquiring lands in the province of Ulster” [Castleton, p. 175].

3. (5 Dec.) Godfrey, heir-apparent of Tarbert, is granted a bond disponing (turning over legally) certain lands in Glassary parish to his father Archibald as part of a contract with Hector and Margaret Campbell MacAlister (probably of Loup) [Castleton, p. 170].

4. A “curious expedition” sets sail from the harbour at Lochhead: “a company of Highland archers, raised by the Laird of Macnachtan, and intended to be employed in the Duke of Buckingham’s expedition for the relief of La Rochelle in France. . . . [A]mong the soldiers [a]re some . . . bearing such well-known local names as Macsporran, Maclarty, Macmillan, Macneill, and Macallaster. . . . We do not know where the expedition went to, but we are told that it was too late for La Rochelle” [McKerral, p. 32, emphasis mine].

1628:   1. (22 March) William Alexander, the younger, of Menstrie knighted and appointed governor of Nova Scotia ["News", no. 33, p. 3]           

2. Sir Wm. Alexander receives new charter for Menstrie lands and another charter for lands and barony of Tullibody [Castleton, p. 175].

1629:   1. (23 Apr.) Port Royal (Nova Scotia) ceded to France as part of the Treaty of Susa. Although the Scots settled there are supposed to leave, William Alexander fights this order for several years (see 1632, #1) ['Alexander, William, Earl of Stirling, in Dictionary of Canadian Biograpy on-line]

            2. Anthony Alexander (second son of Sir William) appointed joint general surveyor and master of works in Scotland, under Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton. Anthony had ‘acquired skill in architecture’, travelling abroad to do so [Stevenson, Origins of Freemasonry, p. 61].

1630:   (14 Sept.) Sir William of Menstrie made Viscount of Stirling and Lord Alexander of Tullibody ["News", no. 33, p. 2; Montrcrieffe, p. 63; Castleton, p. 176]

1631:   1. Archibald Macalister, 4^th of Tarbert, visits his kinsman, Sir Wm. Alexander, at his castle in Menstrie; Alexander convinces Tarbert to acknowledge him as chief of the Clan Alasdair. “This [i]s, of course, entirely a product of [Sir William]’s vanity, and ha[s] no genealogical basis whatsoever” [Clan, p. 205]; the Loup family certainly never acknowledges Sir William as chief [Clan, ibid.; Grant, p. 148; "News", no. 32, p. 2; no. 33, p. 2; Castleton, pp. 171, 176].

2. Archibald, 4^th of Tarbert, signs Gift of Escheat on the lands of Tarbert, effectively giving them to the Crown for an indefinite period of time [CMS, pp. 3-4].

3. (10 Aug.) Archibald of Tarbert and Sir William of Menstrie elected bur- gesses of Stirling ["News", no. 33, pp. 2-3; Castleton, pp. 170, 176]

1632:   1. (29 March) Treaty of St. Germaine-en-Laye finally forces the end of the Scots colony of Nova Scotia; William Alexander is promised recompense for the loss of these lands, but “neither he nor his successors ever actually receiv[es] payment” [Castleton, pp. 175-6], and his finances never recovered.

            2. In this year, Archibald M'Allester is served heir to his brother Hector of Balinakill "in the two marks of old extent of the lands of Kilcalmannell, called Ballenakeill, with the mill, the acre called Dallenaschenkill, and the acre lying around the chapel of Skibnische - apparently the old churclands of Kilcalmonell and Skipness" [Origines, p. 29]. I'm not sure how these men fit in with the main families. Balinakill is close to the Loup lands, but Hector of Loup as far as I know had no brother Archibald, and in any case would not be known as 'of Balinakill'.

1633:   1. (14 June) William Alexander created Earl of Stirling [Montrcrieffe, p. 63]

            2. Sheriffdom of Tarbert merged into the Sheriffdom of Argyll [McKerral, p. 7]

1634:   1. Lord Stirling granted charter of lands and town of Tillicoultry [Castleton, p. 176]

            2. (January) grant by the king to Sir James Murray and Anthony Alexander gives them “jurisdiction over all trades even remotely connected with building” through- out Scotland [Stevenson, Origins, pp. 63, 67].

            3. (July) Anthony Alexander and his elder brother William, Lord Alexander, become members of the masonic Lodge of Mary’s Chapel, Edinburgh [Stevenson, Origins, p. 63].