Battle of Glendale (Skye)
Battle of Glendale | |||||||
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MacLeods of Lewis. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Clan MacDonald of Sleat Clan Ranald |
Clan MacLeod Clan MacLeod of Lewis | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Donald MacDonald Allan MacDonald of Moidart |
Alasdair MacLeod Donald MacLeod of Meidle | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
High | High |
The Battle of Glendale was fought on the
Conflict
According to MacLeod tradition preserved in the
The Bannatyne manuscript relates how the combined MacLeod forces waited ten days for reinforcements, until Donald Mor of Meidle arrived with a large force under his command. The battle then commenced; the MacDonalds, however, gained the upper hand as Donald Mor was killed and hundreds of the MacLeods were killed. The MacLeods were just at the point of giving way when the mother of Alasdair Crotach ordered the Fairy Flag to be unfurled. With the magical flag unfurled, the manuscript states that the battle was renewed with redoubled fury, with immense losses on both sides. At one point, a party of MacDonalds, led by Allan MacDonald of Moidart (chief of the MacDonalds of Clanranald), managed to cut off the MacLeod chief and the guardians of the Fairy Flag from the rest of their clan. However, just at that moment, Murdo MacCaskill slew Donald Gruamach MacDonald, raised his head upon a spear and ordered the MacLeod pipers to play the MacDonald lament. Disheartened by the ill-omened music and the loss of their leader, the MacDonalds broke and fled, disregarding attempts by the Clanranald chief to rally them.[1]
Roberts noted, that while the manuscript states that Donald Gruamach was killed at the battle, he was certainly alive in 1530, and likely died several years later in 1534. Roberts stated that if the battle actually occurred in the year 1490, as the manuscript suggests, then it was many years before Donald Gruamach became chief of the
Aftermath
According to the Bannatyne manuscript, the battle was said by the old clan
The manuscript states that the Battle of Glendale was "the most tremendous battle in which the MacLeods were ever engaged". The victory was theirs, but it was bought at a terrible price: the clan's chief, Alasdair Crotach, was severely wounded, many of the leading men of the clan were dead, as well as most of the men of the clan. The manuscript states that the clan never fully recovered from these losses. Among the dead was Paul Dubh, the
See also
- Fairy Flag, a MacLeod heirloom with supposed miraculous powers, present at the battle
References
- ^ a b c d e MacLeod, Roderick Charles (1927). The MacLeods of Dunvegan. Edinburgh: Privately printed for the Clan MacLeod Society. pp. 72–74.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7486-6244-9.
- ^ MacLeod, Roderick Charles (1927). The MacLeods of Dunvegan. Edinburgh: Privately printed for the Clan MacLeod Society. p. 84.
External links
- Skye, Glendale, the RCAHMS-CANMOREwebpage on the battle site