1400:   1. Records mention Alexander mac Ranald MacAlasdair, 5^th chief of the        Clan Alasdair (I have no details).

            2. Some descendants of Godfrey, second son of Alasdair Mòr, settle in

the Carrick district of Ayrshire at about this time; like the Stirlingshire Alexan- ders (see 1330), these MacAlasdairs become MacAlexanders, dropping the mac in later generations [Black, p. 16].

3. Power base of Clan Donald South begins to shift to Northern Ireland

John Mòr Tanister[1], brother of Donald, second Lord of the Isles, marries Marjorie Bisset, heiress of lands in the Glens of Antrim. This “territorial expansion, . . . rein- forced by subsequent intermarriages, open[s] up the Glens as a place of refuge and resettlement for Clan Donald and its associate families right down to its disin- tegration in the seventeenth century” [Martin, p. 93; McKerral, p. 7[2]; Grant/Cheape, p. 72]. P. L. Henry argues that "[t]he Glens of Antrim were in the hands of Scottish Macdonalds by 1400" [Wood, ed., p. 10]. Note: These are the Macdonalds of Dunny- veg, or Clan Iain Mhòr; Clan Alasdair is one of the main 'associate families' of this branch of Clan Donald, and many Macalisters do in fact follow them to Antrim.

            his wife is the daughter of an Abbot MacAlaster [Feud, p. 26].

1427:   Menstrie, the old family seat of the Campbells, is traded by them for another prop- erty [Feud, p. 27]; however, some branch of that clan seem still to have ownership of Menstrie in the next century (see 1517; 1526, #2).

1429:   Under Alexander, third Lord of the Isles, the campaign to win back the Earldom of Ross resumes. MacDonalds lay waste to Crown lands in Inverness and burn down the town itself before being defeated at Lochaber; here again, Gregory suggests that most of Alexander’s vassals are involved [pp. 36-7], which would include members of the Clan Alasdair. MacDonald’s allies, the Camerons and MacIntoshes, desert him, but beyond this no details of the battle are known. At this point, King James I “take[s] some steps towards dismembering the lands of the Lordship” [Feud, p. 30-31]. Alexander is forced to submit in humiliation and is put under lock and key [Gregory, p. 37].

1431:   Battle of Inverlochy Though the Lord of the Isles is still imprisoned, his kins- man Donald Balloch (son of John Tanister and Marjorie Bisset) surprises the royal forces occupying Lochaber and defeats them, killing many, including the Earl of Caithness; the Earl of Mar is badly wounded, and the king is not at all pleased. Donald Balloch flees to Ireland, but “[t]he other leaders of the insurgents, dreading the determined character of [King] James, c[o]me to meet him at Dunstaffnage, eager to make their submission, and to throw the whole blame of the insurrection upon Donald Balloch, whose power, as they affirmed, they had dared not resist” [Gregory, p. 38]. Whether or not there are MacAlasdairs involved is not clear, al- though there is no doubt they are involved in all the mischief Balloch’s clan gets up to after 1493. It is also not clear whether or not Balloch truly acted on his own. As Alexander MacDonald is pardoned for all his crimes later the same year, he is evidently not seen by the king as responsible for Balloch’s insurrection [Gregory, p. 39; Kintyre Rentals, p. 1], but he certainly causes more grief later; see 1445.

1439:   Alexander MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, is granted the Earldom of Ross [Feud, p.  

            x].

1445:   Alexander MacDonald, Earl of Ross and, under James II, Justiciar of Scotland north of the Forth, “enter[s] into a secret and treasonable league with the Earls of Douglas and Crawford. The details of this instrument have not been preserved; but there is little doubt that the confederate nobles . . . agre[e] to the dethronement of James II. . . . [B]efore any overt acts of treason [a]re committed in consequence of this conspiracy, the Earl of Ross die[s] at his castle of Dingwall” [Gregory, pp. 39-40].

1452:   John MacDonald, 4^th Lord of the Isles, joins the murdered Earl of Douglas’s suc- cessor in rebellion against James II; he “lead[s] a force of some 10,000 MacDon- alds onto the mainland and [i]s defeated by the Earl of Sutherland amid consider- able slaughter” [Feud, p. 25].

1455:   1. Ranald Makalestyr (aka Ranald Alexandri, Reginald McAlestir [McAlestere, McAlestre]) now holding extensive lands in Arran [Black, p. 449; Fraser-Mackintosh, p. 34].

2. John, Lord of the Isles, and Donald Balloch lead a joint rebellion against James II. Balloch raids and plunders the Isle of Arran and parts of Ayrshire, but accomp-lishes little; MacDonald's ally the Earl of Douglas then leaves for England, and MacDonald, finding himself alone in rebellion, appeals for forgiveness from the king [Gregory, p. 44].

1456:   Lord of the Isles “submit[s] to the king and [i]s pardoned for both his own and Don- ald Balloch’s invasions”; Castle Urquhart and Greenan Castle are restored to him [Feud, p. 35; Gregory, p. 45; Feud puts this in 1455].

1457:   In this year, John MacDonald is “one of the Wardens of the Marches, an office of great trust and importance, but obviously intended to weaken his influence in the Highlands and Isles, by forcing him frequently to reside at a distance from the seat of his power” [Gregory, p. 45].

1458:   (early) Ranald Macalister of Arran (see 1440) dies, after managing to not pay rent on his lands for more than 15 years. These lands at one point included the keep- ership of Lochranza Castle, and for a time, the entire island of Arran. At the time of his death, however, he is propertyless, presumably finally evicted by his feudal superiors [Mackenzie, Arran, pp. 47-8; Robertson, part 1; Reid, p. 63].

1459:   John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, and 3,000 of his men (possibly including Mac- Alasdairs) fight with the king against the English at Roxburgh [Gregory, p. 46; Feud, pp. 35-6].

1460:   John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, and some of his men (possibly including Mac- Alasdairs) are part of the Scottish force that retakes Berwick after almost a cen- tury of English control [Feud, pp. 35-6].

1461:   The Earl of Ross, along with “all the Island chiefs”, according to Tytler and the Auchinleck Chronicle, attends a Parliament at Edinburgh. “Apparently, Ross per- ceive[s] that the new government [i]s not strong enough to command his obedi- ence, and th[inks] this a favourable opportunity to pursue his schemes of personal aggrandisement” [Gregory, p. 46].

1462:   1. Treaty of Westminster-Ardtornish: John MacDonald, along with the ban- ished Douglas family, secretly negotiates this treaty with Edward IV of England; this eventually costs him most of his lands [Keay, p. 548; Grant, p. 157]; see 1475–6. Also involved in this treaty are Donald Balloch and his son, John [Gregory, pp. 46-7].

2. John MacDonald takes the castle of Inverness; he and his kinsmen “procee[d] to issue proclamations, in the name of the Earl of Ross, to all the inhabitants of the sheriffdoms and burghs of Inverness and Nairn, couched in such a manner as to show that Ross . . . [has] already assumed the powers of a king in the north” [Gregory, p. 48; Feud, p. 37]. It is unclear how this rebellion is suppressed. “It is certain, however, that the Earl d[oes] not, at this time, receive an unconditional pardon, although allowed to retain the undisturbed possession of all his vast estates” for another fifteen years [Gregory, p. 49].

1475–6: 1. First submission of the Lord of the Isles to the Scottish King [Keay, p.

            643; Feud, p. x; McKerral, p. 4]: After discovery of the 1462 Ardtornish Pact, “John

            MacDonald [i]s pardoned but deprived of the Earldom of Ross and control of

            Kintyre and Knapdale” [Feud, p. 37; Mitchell, p. 38; Kintyre Rentals, p. 2]. At this

            time the “Earldom of Ross [i]s . . . inalienably annexed to the Crown, and a great

            blow [i]s thus struck at the power and grandure” of the MacDonalds [Gregory, p. 

            50].

2. “The sacrifices made by [John MacDonald] in 1476, when he gave up the Earl- dom of Ross and the lands of Kintyre and Knapdale, [a]re very unpopular among the chiefs descended of the family of the Isles, who further alleg[e] that he . . . impaired his estate by improvident grants of land to the Macleans, Macleods, Mac- neills, and other tribes. Thus the vassals of the Lordship of the Isles c[o]me to be divided into two factions—one comprehending the clans last mentioned, who adher[e] to the old lord—the other consisting of the various branches of the Clan- donald, who ma[k]e common cause with the turbulent heir of the Lordship”, John’s son Angus [Gregory, p. 61].

1478:   (11 Aug.) Lands of Loup included in the Kintyre lands granted by James III to John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles. “[T]hese bec[o]me the initial lands occupied by the McAlesters.” They are Ardpatrick (3 merklands[3]), Cuildaynoch (1 merk- land), Barnellan (4 merklands), Culnashemrog (1 merkland), and Balliner, Ballie- meanoch, & Glenralloch (totalling 3 merklands) [CMS, p. 29].

late 1470s: Apparently to spite his wife and his (illegitimate) heir-apparent, “John sign[s]

            over some MacDonald properties in Kintyre and Knapdale, which [a]re not legally

            his anyway, to the Campbells” [Feud, p. 38].

1480s: 1. This decade is not well documented and the dates are unsure. Angus MacDonald “behave[s] with great violence to his father, [and] involve[s] himself in various feuds, particularly with the Mackenzies”. He undertakes another invasion of the Earldom of Ross, and after being driven back to the Isles engages in “a sea-fight between the contending factions in the Isles, in which the adherents of John [a]re routed with great loss by Angus and his followers”, a battle known in tradition as the Battle of the Bloody Bay [Gregory, pp. 52-3].

2. Donald Dubh, the infant son of Angus MacDonald, heir to the Lordship, is carried off by the Earl of Athole and given into the custody of Angus’s father-in-law, the Earl of Argyll. This puts Angus on the warpath again, going after the Earl of Athole with great destruction [Gregory, pp. 53-4].

1481:   (10 July) “Tarlach MacAlexander, head of the Macalesters of Loup”   

            appointed Constable of Tarbert &  Steward of Kintyre: James III, redistr- ibuting some of the lands confiscated from the MacDonalds after the submission of the Lord of the Isles in 1475, puts Charles MacAlister in charge of the area [Munro, pp. xxvii, 2, 218; Keay, p. 643; McKerral, p. 5; Kintyre Rentals, p. 2]; Charles is later appointed Sheriff of south Kintyre, with Dunaverty Keep as his HQ [DMM; CMS, p. 27; McKerral, p. 6]; at the same time, he receives a charter for “a consid-erable grant of lands in that district” [Castleton, p. 165]; the 40 merklands granted him include “Machquhuirymore of Dounaverty, the Twa Ramills, Edine, Knockstap-pilmore, Kiranbeg, Glenemuklach, Kildavy, Polmulyne, Eradell, Solkauch, Glena- hervy, Feadaig, Corpaig, Barfarnay, Auchnaglek, Kilmichael, and Crag [Kintyre Rentals, ibid.; Munro, p. 218]. See mid-1500s.

late 1480s: According to a fragmentary manuscript history of the MacDonalds (which Donald Gregory says intentionally distorts most of its genealogies but is otherwise fairly reliable), Angus Og takes "a journey south, where he kill[s] many of the Mac- alisters in Arran, and also [some] of his own name, for seizing and intromitting with some of his lands without his consent" [Collectanea, pp. 317-8, 325].

c. 1490: Angus MacDonald “assassinated by an Irish harper” according to contemporary records. “The aged Lord of the Isles [John] . . . resume[s] possession of his estates, from which he ha[s] been for some time excluded by the unnatural vio- lence of his eldest son, Angus”. John’s nephew, Alexander of Lochalsh, becomes the heir and, “apparently with the consent and approbation of his uncle, . . . place[s] himself at the head of the vassals of the Isles, and, with their assistance, endeavour[s] . . . to recover possession of the Earldom of Ross” [Gregory, pp. 54-5; Kintyre Rentals, p. 3]. 

1493(ff.): Forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles

1. “King James [IV, 1473–1513] decide[s] that . . . John of the Isles c[an] no longer control his vassals[4] and step[s] in to strip him of all his remaining titles” [Feud, pp. 40-41; Stat. Acct.: Campbeltown, p. 531]; “all the extensive possessions of that nobleman f[a]ll into the hands of the Crown” [Gregory, p. 86]. At this point "Clan Donald broke up into warring factions, allowing the Clan Campbell to take over the headship of the Gael" [Campbell of Airds, "Early Families", p. 185]. Before the lordship fell, however, the mantle of MacDonnell leadership had passed to Clan Ian Mor", the southern branch of Clan Donald [J M Hill, p. 19].

2. Campbells make use of royal favour to extend their Highland territories more aggressively in the power vacuum that results from the Forfeiture [Feud, p. 43]. James IV appoints Argyll[5] King’s Chamberlain over all lands claimed by the Mac- Donalds, and a period of conflict is unleashed on Kintyre: "There is probably some truth . . . in the belief that the immediate aftermath of the forfeiture . . . was one of the most unruly periods ever known" [Munro, p. xlvi; McKerral, p. 9; Kintyre Rentals, p. 2]. MacLeod describes the period following the forfeiture as “a century of virtual anarchy” in the Highlands and Islands [p. 7].

3. Several principal Clan Donald families take refuge in the Glens of Antrim, “br[inging] with them MacNeills, MacAllisters, Mackays, and Macrandalbanes from Kintyre and Gigha.” Others of these clans “rang[e] backwards and forwards from the Isles to serve as mercenaries for the Gaelic lords of Ulster” [Bardon, p. 68, emphasis mine; G Hill, pp. 38-9].

            4. Holding a parliament in Kintyre, James IV ‘emancipate[s] part of the vassals of   

the Macdonalds in Argyll, and grant[s] them, de novo, charters holding of the  Crown” [Stat. Acct.: Campbeltown, p. 531; Gregory, p. 59]. Many MacDonald  kin-     dreds establish themselves as independent clans at this point, including the Clan Alasdair, whose reigning chief is Iain Dùbh[6] [CMS, p. 27; Grant, p. 157; Gregory, ibid.]; his seat is at Ardpatrick, S. Knapdale [MacKinnon, p. 162].

1494:   1. Royal visits to Tarbert: In the course of this year, James IV “visit[s] the Isles no fewer than three times, so great [i]s his anxiety to establish the authority of law and government in these remote districts. On two of these occasions, at least, James reside[s] at Tarbert for a time” [Mitchell, pp. 32-3].  “[N]otwithstanding the frequent efforts then made for the pacification of the rival clans, Kintyre and the Southern Hebrides continu[e] in a state of lawlessness and bloodshed” [ibid., p. 35].

2. During his first visit to Kintyre, King James knights John Cathanach Macdonald of Dunnyveg, “who apparently t[akes] this honour as a portent that his lands in Kintyre . . . as also the keeping of the Castle of Dunaverty, [a]re to be restored to him” [McKerral, p. 5].

4. During a visit to Kintyre, King James stays at Dunaverty Castle. “[F]ar from returning it to Macdonald [of Dunnyveg], he install[s] his own governor. . . . At this Sir John appears to have taken mortal offence, and when the King [i]s in his boat, preparatory to his departure, . . . Macdonald t[akes] the Castle by surprise and hang[s] its governor over the walls in sight of the King” [McKerral, p. 5; Stat. Acct.: Campbeltown, pp. 531-2[7]].

1495:   Dunnyveg (MacDonald) family outlawed[8]; John and some of his sons are executed for treason in Edinburgh [Feud, pp. 42-3; Bardon, p. 68; MacDougall, p. 178; McKerral, p. 8]. Two of his sons escape to the family’s lands in Antrim [McKerral, p. 14; Gregory, p. 90], but for some time they have no lands in Scotland [Gregory, p. 108].

1497:   Fall of Lochalsh: Alexander MacDonald of Lochalsh invades Ross. He attempts to raise support among the Islesmen, but is unable to do, possibly because the execution of John of Dunnyveg was sufficiently recent to act as a deterrent. Loch- alsh is pursued by Macian of Ardnamurchan (who apprehended John of Dunny- veg) and, oddly enough, John’s eldest surviving son Alexander. (Might this have been an attempt to prove that, unlike his father, he was loyal to the Crown?)

1498:   King James revokes all charters granted in the previous five years to the vassals of the Lord of the Isles. The reasons for this are obscure, but it represents a sharp change in policy after a year or two of relative tranquility in the Highlands [Gregory, pp. 94-5; DMM]. It might have something to do with further rebellion by the Mac- Donalds (see below).

1499–1500: 1. After being “repaired at considerable cost” [MacDougall, p. 104], “[t]he Cas- tle of Tarbert [i]s used by James IV as a naval supply base during his campaign to suppress” the outlawed but still rebellious MacDonalds [Clan, p. 204; DMM]. He gives Argyll and others (including Duncan Stewart of Appin and the eldest son of the Earl of Huntly) a commission to let on lease the entire lands of the Lordship at the time of forfeiture “both in the Isles and on the mainland, excepting only the island of Isla and the lands of North and South Kintyre”. Of the Islanders, only Mac- ian of Ardnamurchan is still in favour [Gregory, pp. 94-5].