Fearchar, Earl of Ross

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Fearchar of Ross or Ferchar mac in tSagairt (Fearchar mac an t-sagairt, often

Ross (1223–1251) we know of from the thirteenth century, whose career brought Ross into the fold of the Scottish kings for the first time, and who is remembered as the founder of the Earldom of Ross
.

Hutton's sketch of Ferchar's tomb, Fearn Abbey, 1819

Origins

The traditional story is that Fearchar was part of the ancient family Ó Beólláin (O'Beolain, Boland, Bolan) of the

Tain, Scotland.[2]

However, despite "Ross" being a word describing the land the Earls managed (hence the Earl of Ross), Sir Robert Gordon (Earldom of Sutherland, P.36) states the Earls of Ross were first of the surname Ó Beólláin, and then were Leslies…) and continues on page 46 they are called by the surname Ó Beólláin through 1333 when "Hugh Beolan, Earl of Ross" is recorded as one of the slain at the battle of Halidon Hill. The surname remains as the surname of the Earls of Ross from Uilleam Ó Beólláin I, Earl of Ross until the death of Uilleam Ó Beólláin III, Earl of Ross in 1372 when his daughter, Euphemia I, Countess of Ross married to Sir Walter Leslie. Ross became the surname of the Earls of Ross much later in the history of the Earldom (much like the name "Windsor" is also used as the 20th century surname for the Royal Family). {it was the 4th Earl of Ross that 1st took on the Surname Ross.}

Career

Scholarly work on Fearchar has led to the conclusion that Fearchar was a native nobleman who benefitted by upholding the interests of the

King of Scots.[3] Fearchar emerges from nothingness in 1215, as the local warlord who crushed a large-scale revolt against the Scottish king, Alexander II
. The Chronicle of Melrose reported that :

"Machentagar attacked them and mightily overthrew the king's enemies; and he cut off their heads and presented them as gifts to the new king ... And because of this, the lord king appointed him a new knight."[4]

Fearchar's ability to defeat the proven might of the

Meic Uilleim and MacHeths together suggests that Fearchar could command large military resources, and as McDonald points out, this can hardly be entirely explained by his background as a hereditary priest from Tain.[5]
However, the Scottish kings themselves were hardly without authority in Ross, and their position could command social power even in this distant land, something proved by the MacWilliams, whose authority depended on their descent from a Scottish king. Fearchar's power then is not so mysterious.

Promotion to Mormaer

It is possible that Fearchar was made Mormaer when the grateful King Alexander II visited

Uilleam) appears in a charter, with the style Comes de Ross (i.e. Mormaer of Ross). Fearchar's initial and comital style also appear in a charter granting some lands to Walter de Moravia, a charter dating somewhere between 1224 and 1231.[7]

So did Fearchar appear from nowhere as a "

Carrick
, in which these apparently new Mormaerdoms were merely de iure royal grants to native lords who already possessed kinship leadership and de facto status as provincial rulers. In this view, conferring this style was simply an act of harnessing organic Gaelic power structures to the political, terminological and ideological framework of the regnum Scottorum.

Fearchar & Scotland

In 1235, it is reported that Fearchar was active in

Galloway in 1234/5 required a large-scale levying by the Scottish king. King Alexander invaded Galloway, and Gille Ruadh ambushed the royal army, almost bringing it to destruction. However the Scottish King was saved by Fearchar, who appeared to the rescue with the Men of Ross.[8]

The defeat of the rebellious

Domnall mac Uilleim, claimant of the Scottish throne, at the Battle of Mam Garvia, somewhere near Dingwall. In fact, one historian has linked the two events as revenge.[9]

Fearchar was also recorded as being present at the negotiations which led to the Treaty of York, signed in 1237

Marriages & Family

One of Fearchar's daughters, called Euphemia, was married to

Alan, Lord of Galloway
and the Manx kings.

Church Patronage

Fearchar's wider connections are further illustrated by his religious patronage. In the 1220s he granted the

New Fearn.[11] They brought with them some relics of St Ninian too, which is why to this day Fearn Abbey
is associated with that saint. Such a move was hardly surprising, since all aspiring magnates needed their own monastery.

Death

We do not know the precise year in which Fearchar died. The traditional date, 1251, is based on the date given in the spurious Ane Breve Cronicle of the Erllis of Ross. The latter gives his birthplace as Tain. Despite the unreliability of this source and date, he was certainly dead by the 1250s, when his son appears as Mormaer in his own right.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ Reeves, William, 'Saint Maelrubha: His History and Churches' (in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. III (1857–60), 258-96, at pp. 275-6); Skene Celtic Scotland, Vol. II, pp. 483-4 .
  2. ^ Grant, "The Province of Ross", p. 121.
  3. ^ e.g. McDonald, "Old and new", p. 24.
  4. ^ A.O.Anderson, Early Sources, Vol. II, p. 404, with Macdonald, p. 28.
  5. ^ MacDonald, p. 29.
  6. ^ Grant, p. 122.
  7. ^ For all this, see McDonald, pp. 30-3.
  8. ^ Anderson, Vol. II, p. 476.
  9. ^ e.g. Brooke, Wild Men & Holy Places, p. 136.
  10. ^ McDonald, p. 39
  11. ^ McDonald, p. 41.
  12. ^ McDonald, p. 42.

References

  • Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286, 2 Vols (Edinburgh, 1922)
  • Brooke, Daphne, Wild Men and Holy Places, (Edinburgh, 1994)
  • Grant, Alexander, "The Province of Ross and the Kingdom of Alba" in E.J. Cowan and R.Andrew McDonald (eds.) Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era", (Edinburgh, 2000)
  • McDonald, R. Andrew, "Old and new in the far North: Ferchar Maccintsacairt and the early earls of Ross" in Steve Boardman and Alasdair Ross (eds.) The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c.1200-1500, (Dublin/Portland, 2003)
  • Reeves, W., "Saint Maelrubha, his history and churches" in Proceedings of the Antiquaries of Scotland, III, 258-96
  • Roberts, John L., Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1997)
  • Skene, William Forbes, Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alban, Vol. II: Church and Culture, (1877).
  • McDonald, R. Andrew, Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058–1266, East Linton, 2003.
    ISBN 1-86232-236-8
    [McDonald, Outlaws of Medieval Scotland]

External links
Preceded by
Mormaer of Ross

1223–1251 		Succeeded by
Uilleam I
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