The MacGregors, a clan proscribed, a name forbidden, a people who could be legally hunted with dogs,
but why? I'm going to give you the story from three points of view and I'll let you decide
which seems most likely to you. For people, places and events in Scottish history hit
the subscribe button at the bottom right at any time during this video, and ring the notification
bell to find out when I publish new videos. In the meantime, let me tell you three stories.
In Scotland, it's the landscape that's crafted the people, and there's no better place to understand
that than from this hill above Balmaha on the banks of Loch Lomond. As you look across
Loch Lomond from Balmaha to Luss, you can see the little islands defining the Highland fault line,
dividing Highlander from Lowlander. South and west and you're in Colquhoun Clan territory,
and the sweeping Lowland hills stretch out towards the Clyde. It's a short drive
from Glasgow, and even in the 17th Century, would have been accessible from the capital, Edinburgh.
Turn north, and you can see the beauty of those inaccessible Highland glens.
Along the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, the National Park that was MacGregor country. Now every clan
stole cattle, it was a cultural way of life, but living on this border fault line, how tempting was
it for the MacGregors to pop down to the Lowlands and gain a worse reputation than other Highland clans?
It'd be like going to shop for a pint of milk, but there's one other piece in this jigsaw to
the north and west; the Campbells of Argyll. They were the growing power in the Highlands at the
time of our story. Now the events that I'm about to describe and proscription of the MacGregors
were the fault of one of three clans, and by the end I'm going to ask you to
decide which, and let me know in the comments section below; Calhoun MacGregor or Campbell,
but first let me tell you about events that are commemorated by this memorial cairn, this
càrn-cuimhne by the roadside. Events that took place here in Glenfruin on February the 7th, 1603.
Alexander Colquhoun of Luss, the Chieftain of Clan Colquhoun
had obtained an edict, a Royal Ascent from James the Sixth, to pursue the MacGregors, and in
contravention to an Act of Parliament to carry arms in order to do it. Now the MacGregors had
got wind of this, and they decided to get their retaliation in first, and it all came to a head
here in Glenfruin, but it's better if I try and show you from up the hill.
Now Glenfruin opens up to the west, towards the Gare Loch and Faslane Naval Base, and it stretches
down here towards Balloch at the bottom end of Loch Lomond, this was Colquhoun country. On the
7th of February, 1603, Clan Colquhoun came out of the glen, the Auchengaich Glen just there, and they came
up Glen Fruin, led by their Chief, Alexander Colquhoun of Luss. He arrived with 300 foot soldiers and
500 horsemen to head up this glen and deal with the MacGregors, who'd come along the shores of Loch
Long. Now Colquhoun must have felt pretty confident: a strong force with plenty of horse and the King's
backing. The MacGregors, they only had three to 400 foot soldiers, but Alastair MacGregor had got to the
head of the glen with his men first, and he used the time, landscape and his much smaller force to
his advantage. He led his men, blocking off the head of the glen, and the other half with his brother,
John MacGregor, he set an ambush over on that hill over there. The first MacGregor force charged down the
glen towards the Colquhouns, who had poorer ground down here, but they had more strength in numbers,
but when the second MacGregor force came from their ambush point over them, then the Colquhouns were
caught in a pincer and the slaughter began. They were pushed back down onto the boggy conditions
where the horses were useless. 150 to 200 Colquhouns were killed, and many more were injured, with few
MacGregor losses. Alexander Colquhoun of Luss, may have started the day hunting MacGregors, but by the
end of the day he was fleeing towards Loch Lomond and the safety of his castle, Rossdhu.
Now there's a legend that there were some students from a seminary nearby in Helensburgh, who'd come
out for the day to watch the battle, and as the MacGregors pursued the Colquhouns down this glen,
Chief Alastair MacGregor gave one man the job of putting them in a barn for safe keeping, and
to take care of them, but when he said take care of them, the idiot clansmen thought that he was
a Chicago gangster and 'took care of them'! Now in truth it seems that there's little evidence that this
slaughter of the innocents actually took place, and it might be that it was more of a later story to
justify the inhumanity heaped on the MacGregors, I don't know for sure. This was the 7th of February,
1603. James the Sixth would become King James the First of England on March the 24th, and he wouldn't want
disruption in the Highlands getting in the way of his royal procession. In April, he issued an edict
that proclaimed that the name MacGregor was altogether abolished. Anyone who bore the name
had to choose, renounce it or suffer death. The next January at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh, Alistair
MacGregor, and 11 of his chieftains were hanged. The MacGregors won this battle but they lost the war.
Now I'm going to let you decide whose fault all this was. If YouTube were going to put in an
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buying me a coffee or merchandise in the shop, there will be links in the description below. Now
let me give you three perspectives to choose from. This is Firkin Point, it's just south of Tarbert,
and it's about here that three clans meet. So let's take a look at each clan's lands
as I give you this story as to why the battle took place. According to the Colquhoun's
in December 1602, around 80 MacGregors led a raid against them into Glenfinlas.
It was huge! This was no petty cattle rustling by night. They plundered the houses and pretty
much wiped out the Colquhoun stock, carrying off 300 cows, 100 horses and mares, 400 sheep and 400 goats.
Not only that, two Colquhouns were killed in the raid, one of them a household servant of Colquhoun of Luss
himself. This was more than a cattle raid, this had become a blood feud. Colquhoun of Luss
went to meet James the Sixth at Stirling, taking the bloodstained clothing of the dead with him.
This is what caused the battle of Glen Fruin. Now, according to the MacGregor's, two young MacGregor
brothers were traders and they regularly travelled between Highland and Lowland. Now in order to do
this they had to pass through Colquhoun territory. One time, while travelling back north, snow set in.
They wanted to cross over Loch Lomond to spend the night with their own clansmen on the other side,
but in spite of the offer of payment, no Colquhoun was prepared to ferry them. They asked for a bed
for the night 'til the weather improved, or 'til they could travel in daylight hours, but in spite
of the Highland duty of hospitality, they were refused all help. Eventually they sheltered in a
barn, and in their hunger they caught and cooked a goat. In spite of offering to pay for it the next
day, Alexander Colquhoun of Luss had them hanged for theft. That's what led to the Battle of Glen Fruin.
According to Campbell's, this feud between their two adjacent neighbours had nothing
to do with them, and yet the Campbells, who were famous for their wily Machiavellian activities
had been taking over the previously more powerful MacGregor land for a while. The MacGregors may have
seen themselves as descended from royalty, but the Campbells knew how to curry favour with it.
Archibald Campbell, the Earl of Argyll had the official job of keeping an eye on the MacGregors.
He'd paid a bond of twenty thousand pounds for a commission as the King's Lieutenant, which, in
return, bound him with the task of ensuring the King's peace in the bounds of MacGregor lands.
In April 1601, the now hanged clan Chief, Alistair MacGregor, had in turn agreed a
bond with Argyll for the whole MacGregor Clan. Any offence committed by the clan would be a
forfeiture of the lands that they possessed, but instead of immediately enforcing good behaviour,
Argyll bided his time, and used his power over the MacGregors to have them perpetrate
acts of aggression against his other neighbour, Alexander Colquhoun of Luss. In fact Argyll was fined
under the terms of the bond but he got himself acquitted for insufficient proof. Is it possible
that the Campbells might take legal control over one neighbour's lands in order to coerce
them into acquiring another neighbour's property and that was what caused the Battle of Glen Fruin.
Surely not? Let me know in the comment section below, which of these three clans seems the most
likely to you to have caused the Battle of Glen Fruin, one way or another for 180 years off and
on every individual in Clan MacGregor was stripped of their name, their rights, and their existence.
Coming up on screen here are links to two must-watch videos, about two very different
MacGregors; one is an incredible hero of World War One, who was allowed to carry the name
MacGregor, the other is Rob Roy. Tha mi an dochas gum bith lath math leibh. Tiorridh an drasda.