The Clan MacLeod or Clann Leòid in Gaelic – the family of Leod – has a long and distinguished community of Chiefs, beginning with Leod (born about 1215) and continuing to today’s chiefs: Chief Hugh MacLeod of MacLeod (MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan), Chief John of the MacLeods of Raasay and Chief Torquil Donald MacLeod of the Lewes.

Leod, (c.1215-c.1280), First Chief

The MacLeods do not appear on historical record until the mid-fourteenth century. Before then all is folkore. The claim that Leod, the first chief, was a son of Olaf the Black, grandson of Olaf, son of Godred Crovan who founded the last Norse dynasty of the Kings of Man & the Isles (the Hebrides) is nowadays recognised as a mistake, being a seventeenth century misinterpretation of Gaelic tradition. Leod (the Norse name Ljótr) was a son of Olvir (one source gives the Gaelic name Gillemuire instead), son of Ragi, son of Olvir who was not only the eponym of the Sliochd Olbhuir (the ‘tribe’ from which descend not only the MacLeods but also, amongst others, the MacAskills and the MacSuains) but also a descendant (possibly great-grandson) of Helga, sister of the aforementioned Godred Crovan.

Leod was only a child when his father died so he was fostered by Paul Balkason (the governor of Skye, killed in 1231, who supported King Olaf the Black in the civil war amongst Godred Crovan’ s descendants), who supposedly bequeathed to him all his lands (including Harris, with part of North Uist, and much of Skye). Leod married the heiress of MacRhaild Armuin (‘the son of Harald the Armađr’, a Norse title), who brought him many other lands in Skye, including Dunvegan. During Leod’s lifetime, the Scots, wanting to take the Hebrides from the Norse, raided Skye. The ailing King Hakon of Norway responded with a military expedition to the Isles which ended in defeat to the Scots at the Battle of Largs in 1263 and the death of Hakon on his voyage back to Norway. In 1264 a Scottish army passed through the Isle of Man and the Hebrides. In 1265 Magnus Olafson, King of Man & the Isles died and in 1266 Magnus Hakanson, King of Norway, ceded the Kingdom of Man & the Isles to Alexander III, King of Scots, by the Treaty of Perth, in which it was stipulated that the islanders should be pardoned for supporting the King of Norway and freedom to leave the islands if they chose. Leod chose to stay, and it is to his new start in life as a Scot that we should owe the origin of the clan that bears his name. He was succeeded by the one son of his of whom we can be certain.

Since the time of Leod, Dunvegan Castle has been the home of the MacLeod Chiefs for more than 750 years.

Tormod, (c.1250-c.1320), Second Chief

Tormod (in English, Norman), who also was born Norse but started a new life as a Scot, became the eponym of the Siol Thormoid, a name for the MacLeods of Harris & Dunvegan. He became the second chief on the death of his father Leod around 1280.

With the extinction of the royal line of the House of Atholl on the death of King Alexander III’s grand­daughter (Margaret, the Maid of Norway) in 1290, Scotland was thrown into a turbulent time with rival claimants to the throne. King Edward I of England (reigned 1272-1307) was invited to arbitrate amongst the claimants but took the opportunity to subjugate Scotland to England, choosing John Baliol to reign under him, but Baliol was soon deposed and a war of independence begun. This culminated in 1314 when Robert I (the Bruce), King of Scots (reigned 1306-1329), defeated King Edward II of England (reigned 1307-1327) at the Battle of Bannockburn, in which Tormod is said to have fought. It is claimed that Tormod was the Sheriff of Skye and all the ‘Long Island’ (the Outer Hebrides), that he died at the castle of Pabbay in the Sound of Harris, and that he was buried in Iona alongside his father. He had at least two sons, Malcolm (Gillecaluim), his successor, and Murdoch (Murchadh), who married the heiress of the MacNicols of Lewis and Assynt, whose son, Torcall Og, became the first of the MacLeods of Lewis (the Siol Torcail).

Malcolm, (c.1280-c.1355), Third Chief

Malcolm (Gillecaluim, who, because of his increasing corpulence, was latterly known as Calum reamhar math, ‘Good Fat Malcolm’) is the first of his line to appear on historical record, having received from King David II of Scotland a charter for two-thirds of Glenelg (on the mainland of Scotland, opposite Skye) addressed to “Malcolmo Filio Turmode Maclode”.

Malcolm, about 1350, built the massive keep within the walls of Dunvegan Castle. The keep, with high imposing walls, three floors and a dungeon and internal stairs is still at the centre of the castle.

Malcolm died at Stornoway Castle whilst visiting his nephew, Torcall Og MacLeod of Lewis. He had six sons. John and William, who both succeeded to the Chieftainship), Norman (progenitor of the ‘old’ MacLeods of Berneray), Murdoch (progenitor of the ‘old’ MacLeods of Gesto), Malcolm Og (supposed progenitor of MacCallums in Argyll), and Magnus (who was slain without issue). MacKenzie tradition gives Malcolm a daughter, Finguala (or Flora), the mother of Alasdair Ionraic MacKenzie of Kintail.

During this chiefship the Black Death decimated Europe between 1347-1350.

John, (c.1315-c.1392), Fourth Chief

John, called Iain Ciar, was born about 1320, and became chief in 1370 on the death of his father. He was a “most tyrannical and blood-thirsty despot, equally feared by all his vassals and by the members of his own family”. (Bannatyne MSS). He married a daughter of O’Neill from Ireland. His only son, Malcolm died while visiting his cousin in Lewis.

In 1392, John went to Harris to hunt deer. On boarding his galley at Rodel, on his return to Skye, he was shot with an arrow and killed. He was carried to the church at Rodel and then to Iona, where he was buried. (Bannatyne MSS)

William,(c.1320-c.1404), Fifth Chief

As a second son, William ‘The Clerk’ (Uilleam Cleireach) had been destined for the church. He is on record in his clerical capacity in 1374-5 when he obtained provision to the church of Kilchoman, diocese of the Isles, which is probably the Kilchoman in Trumpan (Skye) rather than the Kilchoman on Islay. After the death of his nephew, Malcolm, he had to exchange the life of a clerk for that of a warrior and become the heir of his brother, which is why he was ‘two generations’ older than his legitimate children. He was “much beloved by his clan for his valour as well as his love of justice. He was remarkably handsome and a great admirer of the fair sex. He had an immense family of natural children”.

During his time as Chief, the MacDonalds launched their first invasion of Skye, c. 1403, which was defeated at the Battle of Sligachan, in which their leader Alexander de Yle, (Islay), Lord of Lochaber (a brother of David, Lord of the Isles) was killed. William died at the castle of Camus in Sleat and was buried in Iona.

He had at least two legitimate sons, John, his successor, and Norman, progenitor of the MacLeods of Borline and St Kilda.

John, (c.1394-c.1466), Sixth Chief

John ‘the Turbulent’ (Iain Borb) was only 10 years old when his father died, and so a Tutor or Regent (Iain Mi-Shealbhach) was appointed until John was 16, during which six years the MacDonalds overran much of the estate. When John took charge, c. 1410, he arranged a peace treaty with the Lord of the Isles in which the MacDonalds returned all the MacLeod lands except for North Uist and John accepted the Lord of the Isles as his overlord in the Hebrides. Thus he fought at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411, where he was wounded in the head. He married a granddaughter of the Earl of Douglas.

The power of the MacDonalds, Lords of the Isles, had been growing in the 14th and 15th centuries. John MacDonald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, died around 1387. His son Donald, was a grandson of King Robert II (Stewart), fought at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411, and died around 1423. His son, Alexander MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, had also become Earl of Ross by 1437 and died in 1449.

John (Iain Borb) had one son, William, and three daughters who respectively married Roderick MacLeod, 8th of the Lewes, Lachlan Maclean, 7th of Duart, and Hugh MacDonald of Sleat.

Whilst staying at his castle on Pabbay, in the Sound of Harris, in friendly combat with his foster-brother, Somhairle MacCombich, he burst a wound in his forehead and died. (Bannatyne MSS)

William, (c.1415-c.1483), Seventh Chief

William Longsword (Claidheamh Fada, also known as Uilleam Dubh or William the Black) is first on record in June 1469 as ‘Willelmo McLoyd de Glenelg’.

During his chieftainship, John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, had a long struggle with James III, King of Scots, which was only settled by John resigning the Earldom of Ross. This was unacceptable to John’s son, Angus Og, who with the backing of the MacDonalds, rebelled against his father, and civil war broke out in the Isles.

John, Lord of the Isles, gathered his fleet, with the Macleans, MacLeods of Harris, and the MacNeills of Barra. Angus Og gathered the mighty fleet of the other MacDonald families, and in the Sound of Mull, near Tobermory, defeated his father around 1483 at the Battle of Bloody Bay in which William Longsword, supporting the Lord of the Isles, was killed. Angus Og was to be murdered in 1490 and in 1493 John MacDonald, Lord of Islay, forfeited the Lordship of the Isles

William Longsword, who had begun the building of the church at Rodel in Harris, was the last MacLeod of Harris to be buried in Iona. He was succeeded by his only legitimate son.

Alexander, (c.1455-1547), Eighth Chief

Alexander (Alasdair Crotach) succeeded as 8th chief on the death of his father William Longsword around 1483. In a battle with the MacDonalds of Clanranald, Alexander was wounded in the back and so got the nickname, ‘humpback’, Crotach.

In 1498, he received a charter for his lands in Skye. Despite his wound, Alasdair Crotach was a man of great strength and character. He encouraged traditional Gaelic arts of music, dancing and poetry. He established a college for MacCrummon (now more commonly MacCrimmon) pipers who became pipers to the MacLeod chiefs.

He built the Fairy Tower at Dunvegan castle. He completed the church at Rodel, adding a magnificent wall tomb for himself, with carvings of a hunting scene, Dunvegan Castle, a galley, the Virgin Mary, the Trinity, and the twelve apostles. Alasdair Crotach’s tomb at Rodel was dated 1528 though he did not die until 1547, reputedly having spent the last few years of his life as a hermit in the tower of the church.

Alasdair Crotach married a daughter of Cameron of Lochiel, and had three sons and two daughters. One daughter married three different MacDonalds, of Sleat, Clanranald and Keppoch, and another married Maclean of Lochbuie.

William, (c.1512-1551), Ninth Chief

William took over the leadership of the Clan when his father retired to Rodel. William married Mary, daughter of Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Lovat. William only had one daughter, Mary, and became obsessed with the notion that, on his death, the Clan would not accept her as Chief of the Clan, which many did not. He died not long after his father in 1551 and was interred at Rodel in a second wall tomb.

On the burial of William, the elders of the Clan gathered at Rodel and the Bard of the Clan recited the genealogy of one of the leading members of the Clan, John, called Iain a’Chuil Bhain, John with the fair hair, relating that he was the son of John, the son of Norman, the elder twin of William, 7th Chief, and son of Iain Borb, 6th Chief. Iain a’Chuil Bhain was accepted as chief and was effectively 10th Chief of the Clan.

Mary, (c.1543-after 1602), Tenth Chief

Young Mary was the heiress of the estates and has been treated by some as the chief de jure from the date of her father’s death in 1551 until the return of her uncle Donald who was the male heir. Mary’s wardship was given to the Earl of Huntly and later the Earl of Argyll. She was at the court of Mary I, Queen of Scots from 1562 to 1565. In 1566 the Earl of Argyll reached an agreement with her uncle, Norman, and Mary was married to Dugald Campbell of Castle Sween, from whom descend the Campbells of Auchinbreck. She was still alive in 1602. With Mary in a succession of wardships away from Skye, John (Iain a’Chuil Bhain), continued to lead the Clan, effectively as 10th Chief, though this was later not acknowledged by the Dunvegan historians.

Having had ten sons and four daughters, Iain a’Chuil Bhain died in 1557 and was effectively succeeded by his usurping second son, John, called Iain Dubh, who took possession of Dunvegan Castle slaughtering those in charge.

Donald, (c.1514-1556), Eleventh Chief

Donald, the second son of Alasdair Crotach, 8th Chief, and uncle to Mary, was the next male heir but had gone abroad. However, he returned to Skye in 1556, and was recognised by the elders of the Clan as Chief. John (Iain Dubh), son of Iain a Chuil Bhain, was sent to Lynedale to inform Donald but instead murdered him. Iain a’Chuil Bhain was accepted again as effective Chief but died in 1557. Iain Dubh was outlawed but after his father’s death he usurped the chieftainship until he was ousted around 1560 by Donald’s younger brother, Norman.

Norman, (c.1516-1585), Twelfth Chief

Norman (Tormod) had left Dunvegan with his brother Donald, and had been in France when his elder brother, William, died in 1551. Following Donald’s murder, and with the assistance of the Earl of Argyll, Norman was brought back from France. Norman entered into a bond of manrent (a Scottish contract of the mid-15th century to the early 17th century, usually military in nature and involving Scottish clans) with the Earl, in which the Earl promised to find a husband for Mary, get her infeft (symbolical possession) of her lands, as formerly held by her father William, convey these to her uncle Norman, and receive a dowry of £1,000 Scots. Norman was only able to pay 500 merks (see note below) and so Mary and her husband were given the life-rent of Caroy, south of Dunvegan. It was only in 1580 that King James VI granted a charter to Norman for all the lands in Harris, Skye and Glenelg.

(Note: In the 17th century, there were 12 Scots pounds to an English pound, and a merk was two thirds of a Scots pound, or 13 shillings and fourpence. So 500 merks would have been around £330 Scots pounds).

After acquiring possession of the Clan lands in a coup that ousted Iain Dubh around 1560, Norman set about exterminating the descendants of Iain a’Chuil Bhain. Of his legitimate male line, only one grandson, Norman, son of Alexander, survived, shielded by his foster parents on Taransay. From this Norman descend many surviving branches of the MacLeods.

Chief Norman had three sons, William, Rory Mor (both of whom succeeded to the Chieftainship) and Alexander. He also had two daughters, Mary who married Donald Gorm Mor MacDonald, 7th of Sleat, and Margaret, who married Torquil Dubh MacLeod, son of Roderick MacLeod 10th of the Lewes.

These were turbulent years. In 1560, John Knox successfully concluded the Reformation in Scotland. The following year the widowed, catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of King James V, returned to Scotland from France. In 1565 she married her cousin, Henry, Lord Darnley, and in June 1566 gave birth to a son, James. Darnley was murdered in 1567, Mary married the Earl of Bothwell and soon afterwards she was forced to abdicate in favour of her son who in 1567 became King James VI. She escaped from Loch Leven Castle the following year and then after the defeat at Langside fled to England, where she was to remain a prisoner for 19 years, until her execution at Fotheringhay on 7th February 1587 on the order of Elizabeth I of England.

William, (c.1561-1590), Thirteenth Chief

William succeeded his father Norman and married Janet, daughter of Lachlan Mackintosh of Dunachton, probably late in 1586. He died after only five years as Chief, leaving as his successor his only son John.

John, (c.1586-1595), Fourteenth Chief

John, William’s son, was only about four years old when he succeeded, but survived for only five years before dying in his minority. He was succeeded by his Tutor and Uncle, Rory Mor.

Sir Rory Mor, (c.1565-1626), Fifteenth Chief

Roderick (Rory Mor, Ruairidh Mor), John’s uncle and younger brother of William, 13th Chief, endured a bitter feud with the MacDonalds of Sleat, caused by Donald Gorm Mor MacDonald of Sleat repudiating Rory Mor’s sister, Margaret, following a hand fasting arrangement and returning her to Dunvegan with only one eye. It culminated in the battle fought between the two Clans at Ben Cuillin in 1601, but in 1603 the MacLeods and MacDonalds were reconciled and to celebrate the end of hostilities, Donald Mor MacCrummen wrote three piobaireachd tunes (bagpipe music characterised by extended compositions with a melodic theme and elaborate formal variations), MacLeod’s Controversy, MacDonald’s Salute and the great tune MacLeod’s Salute, also called MacLeod’s Rowing Tune.

By the Statutes of Iona in 1609, the powers of the Highland chiefs were severely curtailed, and chiefs were ordered to have their sons educated in the Lowlands and England, and not to keep a retinue of followers.

At a difficult time, when the MacLeods of the Lewes and the MacIains of Ardnamurchan lost their lands, Rory Mor, constantly in trouble with the Privy Council in Edinburgh, steered a prudent path. However, ten years after King James VI travelled to London in 1603 and became King James I of Great Britain, the Chief travelled to London where he was knighted by the King.

Sir Rory Mor rebuilt the great hall at Dunvegan Castle, between the ancient keep, which was gutted, and the Fairy Tower. Entrance to the Castle was still through the Sea Gate, to the west of the courtyard.

Sir Rory Mor married Isabel, daughter of Donald MacDonald, 7th of Glengarry. Their four youngest sons, Roderick, of Talisker; Norman, of Berneray, William, of Hamer, and Donald, of Greshornish, were the ancestors of distinguished MacLeod families. Their five daughters married Maclean of Duart, MacDougall of Dunollie, MacDonald of Clanranald, John Garbh Macleod of Raasay, and MacSween of Roag.

Sir Rory Mor MacLeod died in 1626 and was buried at Fortrose Abbey north of Inverness.

John, (c.1600-1649), Sixteenth Chief

John (Iain Mor), eldest son of Sir Rory Mor, kept his clan out of the fighting in the civil war in Britain but ‘died of mere grief’ soon after the execution of Charles I. He married Sibyl, daughter of Kenneth MacKenzie, 1st Lord MacKenzie of Kintail, and they had two sons (who both succeeded to the Chieftainship) and four daughters.

Roderick, (c.1635-1664), Seventeenth Chief

Roderick ‘the Witty’ (Ruairidh Mir) was a minor when he succeeded on the death of his father, Iain Mor, in 1649 and so the Clan was led by his uncle and Tutor, Roderick MacLeod of Talisker, who with his brother Norman MacLeod of Berneray, in support of Charles II, led the MacLeods in the Scottish army that was defeated in 1651 by Oliver Cromwell at the battle of Worcester where hundreds of MacLeods lost their lives.

After the Restoration of King Charles II, Talisker and Berneray were knighted, but the Chief was not honoured. The family vowed never to support the Stewarts again, and never did.

Roderick married Margaret, daughter of Sir John MacKenzie, 1st Baronet of Tarbat, and sister of George, 1st Earl of Cromartie. Their only son, Norman, died before his father.

John, (c.1637-1693), Eighteenth Chief

John ‘the Speckled’ (Iain Breac), succeeded Ruairidh Mir, his older brother, who had no surviving son, in 1664. Iain Breac was the last MacLeod Chief to live permanently at Dunvegan Castle. He extended the Castle, adding a wing at right angles to Sir Roy Mor’s Hall and the Fairy Tower.

Iain Breac was a Member of Parliament for Invernessshire in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh from 1678 and a County Commissioner for Invernessshire. His portrait survives at Dunvegan Castle. He wears a well-cut coat and full wig, but took the precaution of adding a steel breastplate.

When King James VII and II was deposed by his daughter Mary and son-in-law William in 1688, Iain Breac acknowledged the new Monarchs. Thus the MacLeods were not involved in the first Jacobite Rebellion of 1689 and the Battles of Killiecrankie and Dunkeld that summer. Three years later in 1692 the Scottish Privy Council in Edinburgh was to commit judicial murder with the Glencoe Massacre, which frightened all the Highland chiefs into aligning themselves with the new monarchs.

Ian Breac married Florence, daughter of Sir James Mor MacDonald 2nd Baronet of Sleat, and had five children. Roderick and Norman were to succeed as Chiefs of the Clan and William was to die young, while studying at Glasgow University. Isabel married Robert Stewart, 8th of Appin, and Janet married Sir James Campbell, 5th baronet of Acuhinbreck, descended from Mary MacLeod, 10th Chief. An illegitimate daughter, Margaret, married Donald Morrison of Skinidin, whose grandson Alexander was to emigrate to North Carolina around 1773.

Roderick, (1674-1699), Nineteenth Chief

Roderick (Ruairidh Og) was a student at Edinburgh University when he succeeded his father, Iain Breac, in 1693. From childhood he was delicate and developed consumption. The damp climate of Skye did not suit him and he went to live at Fortrose, on the Black Isle, abandoning Dunvegan and the traditional Gaelic way of life. Martin Martin, the historian, was his Tutor and called him the “kindest friend I had on earth”. In 1694 Roderick married Lady Isabella MacKenzie, daughter of Kenneth, 3rd Earl of Seaforth and had a daughter Anne, who was to marry Donald MacLeod of the MacLeods of Berneray, known as the Old Trojan, by whom she had twenty children, known as the ‘Tribe of Berneray’.

Rodrick died of consumption on 24th June 1699, and was buried on 11th July in the grave of his great-grandfather, Sir Rory Mor MacLeod.

Norman, (c.1685-1706), Twentieth Chief

Norman, also a son of Iain Breac, was a minor when he succeeded in 1699 on the death of his brother. Alexander MacLeod, son of Sir Norman MacLeod of Berneray, was appointed Tutor, to look after his affairs. Alexander was a lawyer in Edinburgh. In 1703 Norman married Anne, daughter of Hugh, 11th Lord Lovat, by Lady Amelia Murray, daughter of John, 1st Marquis of Atholl, linking the MacLeods with both the Fraser and Atholl families. Two children were born, John, in 1704 and Norman the following year.

In September 1706, while at Inverness ‘McLeod was a little indisposed before he went to the christening of James MacDonald’s child, where they tell me he drank somewhat too much, and died’. He was buried in a burial place forty foot square, gifted by the town of Inverness.

John, (1704-1706), Twenty First Chief

Norman’s first son, John, was only two when his father died in 1706 but John died within the year. John MacLeod of Contullich, brother of Alexander, the Edinburgh lawyer, appointed Tutor to the young boys, was present at Inverness at the burial of John (21st Chief) and the christening of his brother Norman (22nd).

Norman, (c.1705-1772), Twenty Second Chief

Norman was born at Inverness on 29th July 1705 and became Chief at the age of one. He was known during his lifetime as ‘the Wicked Man’ but was later ‘re-branded’ by Dame Flora as ‘the Red Man’. Norman lived with his mother Anne at Huntingtower Castle, outside Perth, a castle belonging to Anne’s uncle, the Duke of Atholl.

In London, Queen Anne (the last of the Stuart monarchs) had succeeded her brother-in-law William in 1702 and was to have no surviving children. The Act of Union, in 1707, adjourned the Scottish Parliament, and sent all Scottish members to Westminster, now the new British Parliament. The Act of Settlement ensured a Protestant heir to Queen Anne, who was succeeded by George, Elector of Hanover as George I.

In 1707 Norman’s mother, Anne Fraser, married Patrick Fotheringham of Powrie, and after his death in 1717, she married, as his third wife, John Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie. Norman had several Powrie and Mackenzie half siblings.

John MacLeod of Contullich kept the young Chief and the Clan out of politics. The Clan was not involved in the Jacobite Rising in 1715 nor at the Battle of Glenshiel, on the mainland close to Glenelg, in 1719. The debts on the MacLeod estates were due in part to the jointures (lifetime allowances) paid to the widows of the young 19th and 20th Chiefs. Contullich steadily reduced the debts by careful management.

In 1722 a military barracks was built at Glenelg on the best of the MacLeod lands, though it was to be 50 years before the Chief gained any recompense.

Norman had a tutor from Kintail but was educated in Edinburgh and was little in Skye.

In 1724 young Norman MacLeod, 22nd Chief, took control of his estates in Glenelg, Skye and Harris. He immediately sued Contullich for mismanagement causing enmity between the MacLeods of Berneray and Dunvegan.

In December 1724 Norman married Janet, six years his senior, the daughter of the forfeited Sir Donald MacDonald, 4th Baronet of Sleat. Instead of going to live at Dunvegan castle, Norman and Janet went to live with Norman’s mother and step-father, the crotchety old Earl of Cromartie at Castle Leod, north of Inverness, now the seat of the Clan MacKenzie. Their marriage was never to be a happy one and they separated in 1733, though they were reconciled in 1740.

The following year Norman was elected to Parliament and went to London. Janet died in 1743, and her father Donald MacDonald put about that she had been starved to death in a dungeon!

In 1739, with his neighbour, Sir Alexander MacDonald of Sleat, Norman devised a scheme to kidnap folk from Harris and ship them to North Carolina for sale as indentured servants. The scheme failed, for the ship put in to Ireland for repairs and the Harris folk escaped. Norman and Sir Alexander only escaped trial through the efforts of their friend, Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Lord President of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. It was thus that Norman gained the nickname ‘The Wicked Man’.

In 1745 Norman and Sir Alexander MacDonald refused to support Prince Charles Edward Stuart when he landed in the Highlands. Norman raised more than 500 soldiers for the Government, though he, and some of his men, were surprised and driven out of Inverurie by the Jacobites in December 1745. Norman’s son, John, was appointed Captain in Lord Loudoun’s newly raised Regiment of Highlanders and was ‘with the baggage’, in a support role on the Hanoverian Government’s side, at the Battle of Culloden.

A few MacLeods followed the Prince, led by Donald MacLeod of Berneray, the Old Trojan, who had vanquished a dragoon, hand to hand, at the Battle of Falkirk in January

At least the MacLeod lands were spared the savage reprisals that were meted out to Raasay, and the MacDonald and Cameron lands on the mainland, after the failure of the Rebellion.

One of Captain John MacLeod’s subalterns was John Martin. During the summer of 1746 Norman met John Martin’s sister Anne and in December they were married in London, though the marriage contract was not signed until 1748. Norman had a pair of portraits painted by Alan Ramsay of himself and his new bride. Despite the ban on wearing tartan, Norman wears a red and black checked suit and red tartan in a prominent painting that now hangs at Dunvegan Castle. When Dame Flora was later to declare ‘none of my ancestors were wicked’, she used this image to name him the Red Man.

Norman built a kitchen block, inside the enclosure at Dunvegan Castle, and made the first entrance from the landward side. He also built a house by the pier, now called Laundry Cottage.

Norman and his new bride did not come to live at Dunvegan and took a mansion, Whitehouse, in Edinburgh and then Park House at St Andrews, moving the best of the portraits and furniture with them. The Chief was in debt and was less and less at Dunvegan, though it was said that he was still beloved by his tacksmen and clansmen in Skye.

Norman was to increase rents by more than 300% in the years up to his death. His relations and friends, who held the farms, called tacks, in Glenelg, Skye and Harris could bear it no longer and many emigrated to North Carolina. The way of life of Norman’s grandfather and 18th Chief, Iain Breac, who had lived in mediaeval splendour at Dunvegan Castle, surrounded by his clansmen, was now a distant memory.

Norman’s only legitimate son, John, born around 1725/6, entered the army and died at Beverley in Yorkshire in 1767 leaving one son Norman (who succeeded his grandfather) and six daughters by his wife Emilia, daughter of Alexander Brodie of Brodie. John’s father Norman also had five daughters from his two marriages, all of whom had to be found dowries. Additionally there were three illegitimate sons: Alexander, known as MacLeod of Glendale, who served with the Royal Marines, and who was to marry Ann, daughter of Flora MacDonald and emigrate to North Carolina, Norman who entered the Army and served in North America, and Duncan, was an apprentice goldsmith in Edinburgh.

Norman the 22nd Chief died suddenly at St Andrews in 1772, leaving huge debts. He was buried in St Andrews Cathedral kirkyard.

Norman, (1754-1801), Twenty Third Chief

Norman, later called the General, succeeded his grandfather in 1772. Norman was the son of John MacLeod, who had been a Captain at Culloden. John MacLeod in turn was the eldest son of Norman, 22nd Chief, and Norman’s first wife Janet, daughter of Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat. Norman, 23rd Chief, settled at Dunvegan Castle with his mother and determined to live on Skye.

Dr Samuel Johnson and James Boswell visited Dunvegan Castle in September 1773. Boswell wrote that the Castle “was the very jewel of the estate. It looks as it had been let down from heaven by the four corners, to be the residence of a chief”. Johnson, however, concluded more generally that “the Clans retain little now of their original character; their ferocity of temper is softened, their military ardour extinguished, their dignity of independence depressed, their contempt of government subdued, and their reverence for their chiefs abated. Of what they were before the late conquest of their country, there remains only their language and their poverty. Their language is attacked on every side”. The language being Gaelic.

Norman, the young Chief, did not stay at Dunvegan long. He joined Fraser’s Highlanders and on the way to North America at the start of the American War of Independence, he was made prisoner and taken in to Boston. When he returned to Britain he raised the Second Battalion, the Black Watch, whose colours are still at the Castle. He went out to India where he amassed a fortune that he spent trying to get elected to Parliament, and in restoring the castle keep at Dunvegan.

The Isle of Harris had been sold in 1779 and Glendale and Waternish were to be sold in 1797. In 1801 on his way to Lisbon, to improve his health, he was taken ill at Guernsey and died on 16th August. His remains were transported back to Edinburgh where he was buried in St Cuthbert’s kirkyard.

By his first wife Mary, daughter of William MacKenzie of Suddie, Norman had a daughter, Mary Emilia, and a son, Norman (1781-1800), a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy who was killed on 17th March 1800, leaving no issue, when his ship, Queen Charlotte, blew up at Leghorn (now Livorno) in Italy.

By his second wife, Sarah, daughter of Nathanial Stackhouse, he had one surviving son, John Norman, and three surviving daughters.

John Norman, (1788-1835), Twenty Fourth Chief

Norman’s son, by his second marriage, John Norman, succeeded his father in 1801. He joined a fashionable cavalry regiment and then returned to Skye where he made a new entrance and courtyard to the castle, from the landward side. He sold Glenelg for a staggering £100,000, equivalent to £11 million at 2018 prices, but still amassed more debts. He cleared his clansman from Sligachan all the way along the west coast to Gesto and Struan, and built a road from Dunvegan to connect with the new road to Stein, the fishing village that was being established. He also built a new church closer to Dunvegan Castle. He took Culloden House, near Inverness, the better to pursue his political career. In 1835, going to vote at his own election, he caught a chill and died. He had married Ann, daughter of John Stephenson, and they had had three sons and six daughters of whom only the eldest son and three of the daughters had issue.

John Norman was the first chief to be buried inside the old church at Duirinish.

Norman, (1812-1895), Twenty Fifth Chief

Norman succeeded on the sudden death of his father in 1835. On 15th July 1837 he married Louisa St John, daughter of Lord St John of Bletso. Unaware of his father’s debts, Norman began to remodel the Castle. The south wall of Sir Rory Mor’s great hall was taken down so that corridors could be added on each of the four floors. The great hall was divided into a dining room and library. The roof level was raised to a flat roof, and pepper pots were added to all corners to make the building more castle-like. When blight hit the potato crops in 1847 and 1848, and famine followed, Norman set about feeding more than 8,000 people on his estates. Everything that could be sold was sold and Norman was financially crippled. He was forced to hand over his estates to trustees while he went to London and got a job as a clerk at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The castle was let to visitors.

Due to the financial embarrassment of the estate a deed of entail was set up. Norman had three surviving sons, but the entail specified that, failing male heirs, the Castle and Estate should pass to the eldest daughter of the last surviving male.

Norman’s first wife, by whom he had four sons and a daughter, died in October 1880 and was buried in Dunvegan village. In July 1881 Norman married Hanna, daughter of Baron von Ettinghausen. They had no children. Norman died in Paris in 1895 and was buried at Duirinish church, Dunvegan.

Norman Magnus, (1839-1929), Twenty Sixth Chief

Norman Magnus, eldest son of Norman the 25th Chief, was a soldier with the 74th Highlanders, retiring as Captain in 1872. In 1878 he was appointed Political Agent on the Transvaal border at the outbreak of the Zulu War. Returning to Scotland in 1880 he succeeded his father as 26th Chief in 1895.

With the consent of his brothers, Norman Magnus sold, to the Government, what remained of the MacLeod estate, except for the Cuillin Hills, and the land around Dunvegan. The ground was divided up into farms and crofts. At long last, the MacLeod debts were extinguished.

No one had expected the aforementioned deed of entail to be implemented, because Roderick, the youngest brother, had a son, Iain Breac. All that changed in 1915 when Iain Breac, serving with the Black Watch, was killed at Neuve Chapelle in France. Norman Magnus had two daughters but no surviving male heir so on his death in 1929, Dunvegan Castle and the Chiefship passed to his younger brother Reginald.

Sir Reginald, (1847-1935), Twenty Seventh Chief

Sir Reginald KCB, third (but second surviving) son of Norman the 25th Chief had a distinguished public service career before being appointed Permanent Under-Secretary for Scotland. He was knighted in 1905. After retiring from public life in 1911, he became a director of Shell. On becoming Chief he modernised the castle by bringing electricity, heating and plumbing to the rooms. Sir Reginald was the first President of the Clan MacLeod Society, formed in 1891.

Sir Reginald’s younger brother, Canon Roderick, died in 1934 so when Sir Reginald died in the summer of 1935, he was succeeded by the elder of his two daughters, Flora Louise Cecilia MacLeod of MacLeod, widow of Hubert Walter. There was no doubt that by the family entail she was owner of Dunvegan Castle and Estate. The Clan MacLeod Society, acknowledged her as Chief and Lord Lyon granted her arms.

Dame Flora, (1878-1976), Twenty Eighth Chief

Flora was born at 10 Downing Street, the home of her grandfather, Lord Northcote, Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time (although the Chancellor would normally reside at number 11). She became President of the Clan MacLeod Society when her father became chief in 1929 and, upon his death in 1935, she was recognised as the 28th Chief of the Clan.

During the War, Skye was a restricted area but servicemen could visit the Island. Many servicemen from Canada, Australia and New Zealand visited Chief Flora at Dunvegan Castle. Forming a notion to reunite the Clan, from 1947 she travelled widely establishing Clan MacLeod Societies in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and was honoured as a Dame of the British Empire in 1953.

Dame Flora instituted the first Clan MacLeod Parliament in 1956 on the coming of age of her grandson and heir John MacLeod. She had married Hubert Walter in 1901 and had two daughters, so she chose as her successor, one of her grandsons, John, the second son and the elder of twin sons of her younger daughter, Joan Walter. Flora’s elder daughter, Alice, who married Archibald Macnab of Macnab, had no children. Joan, Flora’s younger daughter, had married Robert Wolrige Gordon. Their eldest son, Robert, inherited his father’s estates. The elder of the twins inherited his grandmother’s estates.

John changed his name to MacLeod of MacLeod on being chosen as heir in 1951. When Dame Flora died at the age of 98, in 1976, she had been Chief for more than 40 years.

John, (1935-2007), Twenty-Ninth Chief

John was born just before the death of his great-grandfather, Sir Reginald MacLeod. He was the elder of twin sons of Dame Flora’s daughter Joan and her husband Captain Robert Wolrige-Gordon MC. John was educated at Eton, McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. During National Service he served with The Black Watch in Kenya. John started a career in acting and singing.

Named heir to his grandmother, he was recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms as John MacLeod of MacLeod, Younger. He matriculated arms at the Lyon Office in 1962 and succeeded as Chief in 1976. John commenced much needed repairs to Dunvegan Castle and promoted the Castle as a tourist destination, which was to bring 100,000 visitors a year to Skye.

John married Drusilla Shaw in 1961, but they divorced without children. He married Melita Kolin in 1971 and they had a son, Hugh Magnus, born in 1973, and a daughter, Elena Mary, born in 1977, before divorcing in 1992. John’s third marriage in 2004 was to Ulrika Tham. John also had a son, Stephan who was born in 1971 and lives in Switzerland. John died quite suddenly in February 2007, only a month after being diagnosed with leukaemia.

Hugh Magnus, (born 1973), Thirtieth Chief

Hugh Magnus succeeded his father in 2007. Chief Hugh has worked tirelessly to restore Dunvegan Castle and its gardens as the premier tourist attraction in the Hebrides and hundreds of thousands from around the world visit it each year.

Chief Hugh divides his time between Dunvegan and London. He has one son, Vincent.

The Chiefs of MacLeods of the Lewes (Lewis)

The Clan MacLeod or Clann Leòid in Gaelic – the family of Leod – has a long and distinguished community of Chiefs, beginning with Leod (born about 1215) and continuing to today’s chiefs: Chief Hugh MacLeod of MacLeod (MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan), Chief John of the MacLeods of Raasay and Chief Torquil Donald MacLeod of the Lewes.

Leod, (c.1215-c.1280), First Chief

The MacLeods do not appear on historical record until the mid-fourteenth century. Before then all is folklore. The claim that Leod, the first chief, was a son of Olaf the Black, grandson of Olaf, son of Godred Crovan who founded the last Norse dynasty of the Kings of Man & the Isles (the Hebrides) is nowadays recognised as a mistake, being a seventeenth century misinterpretation of Gaelic tradition. Leod (the Norse name Ljótr) was a son of Olvir (one source gives the Gaelic name Gillemuire instead), son of Ragi, son of Olvir who was not only the eponym of the Sliochd Olbhuir (the ‘tribe’ from which descend not only the MacLeods but also, amongst others, the MacAskills and the MacSuains) but also a descendant (possibly great-grandson) of Helga, sister of the aforementioned Godred Crovan.

Leod was only a child when his father died so he was fostered by Paul Balkason (the governor of Skye, killed in 1231, who supported King Olaf the Black in the civil war amongst Godred Crovan’s descendants). Paul Balkason supposedly bequeathed to him all his lands (including Harris, with part of North Uist, and much of Skye). Leod married the heiress of MacRhaild Armuin (‘the son of Harald the Armađr’, a Norse title), who brought him many other lands in Skye, including Dunvegan. During Leod’s lifetime, the Scots, wanting to take the Hebrides from the Norse, raided Skye. The ailing King Hakon of Norway responded with a military expedition to the Isles which ended in defeat to the Scots at the Battle of Largs in 1263 and the death of Hakon on his voyage back to Norway. In 1264 a Scottish army passed through the Isle of Man and the Hebrides. In 1265 Magnus Olafson, King of Man & the Isles died and in 1266 Magnus Hakanson, King of Norway, ceded the Kingdom of Man & the Isles to Alexander III, King of Scots, by the Treaty of Perth, in which it was stipulated that the islanders should be pardoned for supporting the King of Norway and freedom to leave the islands if they chose. Leod chose to stay, and it is to his new start in life as a Scot that we should owe the origin of the clan that bears his name. He was succeeded by the one son of his of whom we can be certain.

Since the time of Leod, Dunvegan Castle has been the home of the MacLeod Chiefs for more than 750 years.

Tormod, (c.1250-c.1320), Second Chief

Tormod (in English, Norman), who also was born Norse but started a new life as a Scot, became the eponym of the Sìol Thormoid, a name for the MacLeods of Harris & Dunvegan.

He became the second chief on the death of his father Leod around 1280. With the extinction of the royal line of the House of Atholl on the death of King Alexander III’s grand­daughter (Margaret, the Maid of Norway) in 1290, Scotland was thrown into a turbulent time with rival claimants to the throne. King Edward I of England (reigned 1272-1307) was invited to arbitrate amongst the claimants but took the opportunity to subjugate Scotland to England, choosing John Baliol to reign under him, but Baliol was soon deposed and a war of independence begun. This culminated in 1314 when Robert I (the Bruce), King of Scots (reigned 1306-1329), defeated King Edward II of England (reigned 1307-1327) at the Battle of Bannockburn, in which Tormod is said to have fought. It is claimed that Tormod was the Sheriff of Skye and all the ‘Long Island’ (the Outer Hebrides), that he died at the castle of Pabbay in the Sound of Harris, and that he was buried in Iona alongside his father Leod.

Tormod had at least two sons, Malcolm (Gillecaluim), his successor, and Murdoch (Murchadh), whose son, Torcall Og, became the first of the MacLeods of Lewis.

Malcolm, (c.1280-c.1355), Third Chief

Malcolm (Gillecaluim, who, because of his increasing corpulence, was latterly known as Calum reamhar math, ‘Good Fat Malcolm’) is the first of his line to appear on historical record, having received from King David II of Scotland a charter for two-thirds of Glenelg (on the mainland of Scotland, opposite Skye) addressed to “Malcolmo Filio Turmode Maclode”.

About 1350 Malcolm built the massive keep within the walls of Dunvegan Castle. The keep, with high imposing walls, three floors and a dungeon and internal stairs is still at the centre of the castle.

Murdoch (Murchaidh) [c.1285-?], named in some texts as Third Chief, was Malcolm’s brother. He married the heiress of the MacNicols of Lewis and Assynt, supposedly named Margaret, and so acquired lands there. He is named as progenitor of the MacLeods of the Lewes. He had a daughter Christina who married Hector Maclean of Lochbuie. Murdoch’s son, Torcall Og, became the first of the MacLeods of Lewis. Malcolm died at Stornaway Castle whilst visiting his nephew, Torcall Og.

The MacLeods of the Lewes came to be called Sìol Torcail, the Seed of Torcall.

Torcall, (c.1320-?), Fourth Chief

Torcall Og, born about 1320, was granted a charter of lands and the castle of Assynt, by King David II about 1340. Torcall held the lands in the Isle of Lewis from the Lord of the Isles.

He had at least three sons and a daughter. Roderick succeeded as chief. Malcolm [Gillecaluin Beag] was killed in 1406 at the Battle of Tuiteam Tarbach in Sutherland. Neil was the progenitor of the MacLeods of Gairloch. Sidheag married Angus Mackay of Strathnaver. Her ill treatment as a widow caused the MacLeods to attack the Mackays at the battle of Tuiteam Tarbach.

Roderick, (c.1350-after 1415), Fifth Chief

Roderick, born about 1350, by tradition fought at the battle of Harlaw in 1411 with his cousin John MacLeod of Dunvegan and Donald, Lord of the Isles. Roderick appeared in charters of 1403 and 1405 and as a witness to a charter in 1415. About 1415 he granted a charter to his second son, Norman, of the lands of Assynt. Roderick married either Margaret, daughter of the Lord of the Isles, or a daughter of John MacLeod of Dunvegan.

Roderick had at least three sons and a daughter. Torcall succeeded as chief. Norman was the first of the MacLeods of Assynt. Roderick appeared in charters in 1403 and 1405. Margaret married William Mackintosh.

Torcall, (c.1380-after 1461), Sixth Chief

Torcall, born about 1380, fought with the MacLeods of Dunvegan at Feorlig in Skye, and with Donald Balloch, a cousin of the Lord of the Isles at Inverlochy in 1431. In 1432 Torcall was granted a charter of his lands in the Lewes by Alexander, Lord of the Isles. In a charter of 1456 Torcall was called ‘Sir Torkell McLoyd of Leows.’ He was a witness to charters in 1437, 1438, 1447 and 1461.

Sir Torcall had at least two sons and a daughter.

Roderick succeeded as chief. Norman held the lands of Hacklete, Earshader, Pabbay and Baille na Ceil in Lewis and his descendants were called Clan Thormoid. Many families later claimed descent from Clan Thormoid, who, in general, were opposed to the Clan Chiefs.

Roderick had a daughter who married John Ross of Balnagowan.

Roderick, (c.1420-after 1496), Seventh Chief

Roderick, born about 1420, succeeded his father in 1446 and appeared in charters in 1459, 1477, 1492 and 1496. Roderick married firstly Margaret, daughter of John MacLeod of Dunvegan, and had a son killed at the Battle of Bloody Bay in 1481. He married secondly possibly Agnes, daughter of Kenneth MacKenzie of Kintail by whom he had two sons, Torcall who became Eighth Chief, and Malcolm, Ninth. Roderick had at least four more children, including a daughter who married Allan MacLeod of Gairloch; Margaret, who married Lachlan Mackinnon, was the mother of an Abbot of Iona, and whose grave slab is in the Ui Church near Stornoway; Anne who married MacDougall of Dunollie; a daughter who married John, grandson of Roderick, and great-grandson of Torcall; and a daughter who married Angus Mor MacLeod of Assynt.

Torcall, (c.1450-after 1535), Eighth Chief

Torcall, was born about 1450.

The power of the MacDonald, Lords of the Isles, had been growing in the 14th and 15th centuries. John MacDonald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, had died in 1386. His son Donald, married a granddaughter of King Robert the Bruce, fought at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411, and died in 1423. His son, Alexander MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, also became Earl of Ross in 1437 and died in 1449.

During his chieftainship, John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, had a long struggle with James III, King of Scots, which was only settled by John resigning the Earldom of Ross. This was unacceptable to John’s son, Angus Og, who with the backing of the MacDonalds, rebelled against his father, and civil war broke out in the Isles.

John, Lord of the Isles, gathered his fleet, with the Macleans, MacLeods of Harris, and the MacNeills of Barra. Angus Og gathered the mighty fleet of the other MacDonald families, and in the Sound of Mull, near Tobermory, defeated his father around 1483 at the Battle of Bloody Bay in which William Longsword, Chief of the MacLeods of Dunvegan and Harris was killed supporting the Lord of the Isles. Angus Og was to be murdered around 1490 and in 1493 John MacDonald, Lord of Islay, forfeited the Lordship of the Isles.

In 1498 Torcall, Eighth Chief of the MacLeods of the Lewes, received a charter for his lands in the Lewes from King James IV. The following year, however, the King revoked the charter and invoked a rebellion by the supporters of the Lord of the Isles. Donald Dubh, son of Angus Og, murdered around 1490, took refuge in the Lewes in 1501. Torcall, summoned to surrender Donald Dubh, refused to do so and in 1505 had his lands forfeited. The Earl of Huntly sailed to the Lewes and besieged Stornoway Castle. Donald Dubh escaped but nothing is known of the fate of Torcall.

Torcall married firstly Catherine, daughter of the Earl of Argyll. He married secondly a daughter of John MacDonald, of Islay and the Glens, and had a son John.

Torcall’s son John was excluded from the succession to his father’s lands in the Lewes by the forfeiture of 1505 and again in 1511. The lands had been given to his uncle Malcolm. In 1528 John recovered his lands, but without title. He died in the late 1530s.

Malcolm, (c.1452-c.1528), Ninth Chief

Malcolm, born about 1452, was the second son of Roderick, Seventh Chief. On the forfeiture of his brother, Torcall, Malcolm received a charter for his lands in the Lewes in 1511 but then in 1515 supported the MacDonald claimant to the Lordship of the Isles. In 1518 he joined Donald Galda MacDonald and Alexander MacDonald of Islay in the invasion of Ardnamurchan.

Malcolm married Christina daughter of Thomas Urquhart of Cromartie. He had at least three sons, Roderick who succeeded his father as Tenth Chief; Malcolm (Calum Garbh) of Raasay, the man from whom, according to the genealogies, the Raasay Chiefs descend, and Norman of Eddrachillis.

Malcolm died about 1528.

Roderick, (c.1500-c.1595), Tenth Chief

Roderick was born about 1500 into turbulent times for the MacLeods of the Lewes. In 1511 his uncle, Torcall, 8th Chief, had his lands forfeited in Lewis. These lands were then granted to Torcall’s brother (Roderick’s father), Malcolm, 9th Chief, but were seized by Torcall’s son John. It was only after the death of his father and cousin John that Roderick came into possession of Lewis.

Roderick became involved in the feud between the MacDonalds of Sleat and the MacLeods of Harris which only ended with the death of Donald Gorm in a dispute with the MacRaes in 1539 at Eilean Donan Castle.

Roderick married three times and had at least four illegitimate children.

Roderick married first Janet, illegitimate daughter of John Mackenzie of Kintail. They had one son, Torcall Cononach, born in 1541. In 1566, however, Uisdean Morrison, Brieve of the Lewes, is said to have confessed that he was Torcall’s father. Torcall was brought up in Conon by the Mackenzies.

Roderick married secondly Barbara, daughter of Andrew Stewart, Lord Avondale. They had one son, Torcall, called Torcall Oighre, Torcall the heir.

Rodrick married thirdly Janet, daughter of Hector Maclean of Duart, and had at least two sons. Torcall Dubh was to be executed in 1597. He had married Christina, daughter of Norman MacLeod of Dunvegan. Torcall Dubh had four sons; Roderick who in 1613 was in the custody of Sir Roderick MacKenzie; William, who was student at Glasgow; Torcall, who was living with Roderick MacLeod of Dunvegan, and Norman who went to Holland.

Roderick also had at least four illegitimate children. Norman was killed by his half-brother Donald in 1576; Murdo was executed at St Andrews in 1600; Neil was hanged in Edinburgh in 1613, and Roderick who died miserably in a snow storm.

Roderick, Tenth Chief, had received a charter for his lands in the Lewes in 1538, but was then caught up in Donald Gorm MacDonald’s revolt and the energetic measures of King James V in 1540. The following year Roderick received a new charter.

In 1554 the Earls of Huntly and Argyll were commissioned to exterminate the MacDonalds of Clanranald, MacDonalds of Sleat and MacLeods of the Lewes. Roderick submitted to the Council in Edinburgh in 1555 and was granted a respite.

Roderick’s eldest child, Torcall Cononach, was repudiated by his father and went to live with his mother’s people, the MacKenzies, in Conon.

Roderick married again but his son, Torcall Oighre, Torcall the heir, was drowned off the Isle of Skye in 1566.

On the death of Torcall Oighre, his half-brother Torcall Cononach made a bid for his inheritance. With the support of the Mackenzies and Morrisons, he seized Stornoway Castle and imprisoned his father, Roderick, for two years. In 1572 Roderick was conveyed to Edinburgh where he was made to resign his lands to Torcall Cononach, whom he recognised as his heir. When Roderick returned to Stornoway he repudiated the agreement on the grounds of coercion.

In 1576 Roderick and Torcall Cononach were reconciled and Torcall Cononach was recognised at Roderick’s heir. This settlement, however, did not suit Roderick’s illegitimate sons who feuded with Torcall Cononach, Roderick’s children by his third wife, and amongst themselves. Torcall Cononach invaded the Lewes again and imprisoned his father in Stornoway Castle for a second time. It was then that Torcall Cononach took away all the MacLeod charters and conveyed them to the MacKenzie Chief, supposedly for safe keeping.

Old Roderick died about 1595, well into his nineties.

Torcall Cononach and Torcall Dubh, son of old Roderick’s third marriage, prosecuted the family feud. Both men submitted to the King in 1596 in the hopes of gaining a charter for the Lewes. Torcall Dubh was treacherously seized and executed by the Morrison Brieve, in 1597.

In 1598, in order to exploit the resources he believed to be there and to bring some order to the Lewes, King James VI organised for a group of merchants, called the Fife Adventurers, to seize the island and they were encouraged to build the “prettie toun” of Stornoway. Neil MacLeod, illegitimate son of Old Roderick, violently resisted the scheme. Eventually the Fife Adventurers gave up and withdrew. In 1607 the Earl of Huntly was ordered to extirpate the “barbarous people of the Isles, within a year” but fortunately failed to do so. Eventually, in 1610, the Fife Adventurers sold their rights in the Lewes to the MacKenzie Chief. The MacKenzie chief sent his brother, Sir Rodrick MacKenzie, to subdue the island and eventually even Neil, Old Roderick’s illegitimate son was cornered, captured and then hanged in Edinburgh in 1613.

The MacKenzies, who had been entrusted with the MacLeod charters by Torcall Cononach, then took control of the Lewes. Sir Roderick MacKenzie had married Margaret, daughter of Torcall Cononach MacLeod. His grandson, George MacKenzie, created Earl of Cromartie, took as his second title Lord MacLeod and the MacLeod crest of a sun and motto Luceo non uro. He even named his castle, Castle Leod. The MacKenzies of Kintail, now in possession of the Isle of Lewis, took the title Earl of Seaforth, after the long loch that separates Lewis from Harris.

So, by the early 17th century the chiefly line of the Clan MacLeod of The Lewes was engulfed in Clan feuding which directly led to the fall of the Clan, the extinction of the original line of chiefs, and the loss of its lands to the Clan Mackenzie. With the end of the line of the MacLeods of the Lewes, the title Lord Macleod became the second title of the Mackenzie, Earls of Cromartie. One line of the 16th century chiefly family, the Macleods of Raasay, survived and held their lands for centuries thereafter. The current chief of the Lewes descends from this latter family.

The Chiefs of MacLeod of Raasay

The MacLeods of Raasay descend from Malcolm, Ninth Chief of the Lewes who, about 1510, gave his second son, Malcolm, called Calum Garbh, (‘Rough’ Malcolm), the islands of Raasay and Rona, and the lands of Coigeach and Gairloch on the mainland.

Malcolm, (c.1503-c.1560) First Chief

Malcolm was born about 1503. In 1532 Farquhar, Bishop of the Isles, called to account MacNeill of Barra and “Mac Gillechalum callit Raasay”. In 1549 Dean Munro stated that “Raasay belonged to Mac Gillechalum by the sword and the Bishop of the Isles by heritage”. Malcolm had at least two sons. He was succeeded by his eldest son Alexander. His son John, known as Iain na Tuaighe (John of the Axe) carried off Janet, the wife of his uncle, Roderick 10th of the Lewes and later married her. She had had a child Torcall, known as Torcall Cononach, whom the Morrison Brieve of the Lewes, had confessed to be his son. Iain na Tuaighe’s sons were massacred on the Isle of Isay.

Alexander, (c.1524-c.1565), Second Chief

Alexander was born about 1524 and had a son Malcolm. Other sons were murdered at Isay. Alexander died about 1565.

Malcolm, (c.1545-c.1605), Third Chief

Malcolm, the youngest son of Alexander MacLeod of Raasay, was born about 1545 and survived the Massacre of the Isle of Isay through the efforts of his foster father, Malcolm MacNeil. In 1596 his name appeared as “Mac Gillicallum filio et heredi Alister vic Gillicaluim de Rasay”. He took part in the raids against the Mackenzies in Gairloch. Malcolm married Isabel, illegitimate daughter of Kenneth MacKenzie of Kintail who acquired the charters and then the Isle of Lewis in 1610.

Malcolm had at least four sons and a daughter. He was to be succeeded by two sons, Malcolm Og and Alexander. His son John fell into a feud with the Banes of Tulloch and was killed in 1597. A daughter married her cousin Hector, second son of Alexander Roy Mackenzie of Gairloch. Murdoch Dubh, an illegitimate son became a great warrior, from whom descends the MacLeods of Marrishader.

Malcolm “retired” as Laird of Raasay and handed over to his son Alexander.

Malcolm Og, (c.1566-1611), Fourth Chief

Malcolm, called Calum Og, (Young Malcolm) was born about 1566 and received a Royal Charter in 1596 investing him in his father’s lands. Malcolm had been obliged to resign the lands of Raasay, in 1608, to his grandfather, Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail, who regranted the lands in 1610. Meanwhile after the killing of Torcall Dubh Macleod of the Lewes, the Mackenzies drove the MacLeods of Gairloch out of Gairloch.

On 11th August 1611 a ship anchored in Clachan Bay on the Isle of Raasay. On board were Murdoch Mackenzie, son of Roy Mackenzie, 4th of Gairloch and Alexander Bane. Discovering who was on board, Malcolm Og and his men attempted to capture Murdoch Mackenzie in order to exchange him for John MacLeod of Gairloch, a prisoner of the Mackenzies. In the fight all the MacLeods who got on board the ship were slain, including Malcolm Og. Also slain were Murdoch Mackenzie and Alexander Bane.

Malcolm Og, killed in 1611, was succeeded by his brother Alexander.

Alexander, (c.1568-1643), Fifth Chief

Alexander, born about 1568, succeeded his brother Malcolm Og in 1611, though he was not served heir until 1617. Alexander had at least two sons, Alexander, who succeeded him, and John, from whom descended the MacLeods of Rigg in Trotternish, Skye.

Alexander died in 1643.

Alexander, (c.1598-before 1648), Sixth Chief

Alexander was born about 1598 and was described, historically in 1688, as “Alexander McLeod, alias McAlaster vic Gillechallum of Raasay” (Alexander the son of Alexander the son of Malcolm). He married Sibella daughter of Roderick Mackenzie, 1st of Applecross, and had at least three sons and two daughters. John, called Iain Garbh, and Alexander were to succeed him as 7th and 8th Chiefs. Malcolm, a third son, was drowned with his brother John (Iain Garbh) in the Minch. A daughter Janet, married Duncan Macrae of Inverinate, and Julia or Giles, married Dugald Matheson from Kishorn. Alexander MacLeod, 6th of Raasay died before 1648.

John Garbh, (c.1625-1671), Seventh Chief

John, called Iain Garbh, Rough John, was served heir to his father on 22nd September 1648. Renowned for his strength he was drowned in the Minch when returning from Lewis at Easter 1671. He married Janet, fourth daughter of Sir Roderick MacLeod of Dunvegan, without issue. John (Iain Garbh) was the last chief to live at Brochel Castle.

Alexander, (c.1627-1688), Eighth Chief

Mary MacLeod, the bardess, composed an elegy for Iain Garbh and stated that he was succeeded by his brother Alexander who died in 1688 for in that year his sisters, Janet and Giles (Julia) were served “heirs of line, conquest and provision of their father, Alexander McLeod”.

Alexander, (c.1670-?), Ninth Chief

In 1688 Janet and Giles Macleods, alias Mc Alester vic Gillichaluim were served heirs of line, conquest and provision to their father, Alexander Mcleod, alias McAlister vic Gillechallum of Raasay, who was the son and heir of the deceased Alexander Mcleod, alias McGillechallum, the grandfather of the said Janet and Giles Mcleods alias Mc Alester vic Gillechallum, who was the son and heir of Malcolm Mcleod alias Mc Gillichalllum of Raasay, the great grandfather of the said Janet and Giles McLeods. In 1692, the said ladies resigned their rights as heirs of line to their second cousin, Alexander, eldest son of John MacLeod, 2nd of Rigg, who now became Alexander, Ninth Chief of Raasay.

Alexander, born about 1670, married Catherine, third daughter of Sir Norman MacLeod of Berneray, third son of Sir Rory Mor MacLeod, 15th Chief of Dunvegan. They had a son called Malcolm.

Malcolm, (c.1691-1761), Tenth Chief

Malcolm was born about 1691 soon after the death of his cousin, Alexander, 8th Chief. Malcolm married firstly, in 1713, Mary, daughter of Alexander MacKenzie of Applecross, across the Inner Sound from Raasay.

Malcolm sent a detachment of Raasay men to join Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1746, and they were at the Battle of Culloden. Malcolm had conveyed his estates to his eldest son, John, called Young Rona. The latter had stayed out of the conflict, but then joined the Prince in Raasay, during the Prince’s escape from the Outer Hebrides to Skye and the mainland. As a result Raasay was burned from end to end, by Captain John Fergussone, and Raasay House was set in flames.

Malcolm had three sons and a daughter. John, (Young Rona), was Malcolm’s heir. His second son Murdoch, was a doctor and ancestor of the MacLeods of Eyre. His third son was Norman, who met Samuel Johnson and James Boswell when they visited Raasay in 1773. His daughter was Janet, who, in 1743, married as her first husband Iain Dubh MacKinnon, who was “out” (i.e. supporting the Stuarts) in the 1715 and 1745 Risings and was imprisoned in London. She was to marry, secondly, John MacLeod, 1st of Colbecks, without issue.

Malcolm MacLeod married secondly Janet MacLeod in 1748. James Boswell wrote, in 1773, that “old Raasay had most absurdly married again after the year 1746”. Malcolm and Janet had eight children.

John, (c.1714-1786), Eleventh Chief

John, was born about 1714, and, in 1745, his father conveyed the Raasay estates to him. In 1773 Samuel Johnson and James Boswell visited Raasay and were greatly taken with the chief and his family.

John married Jane, daughter of Angus MacQueen of Totaroam in Trotternish, and had three sons and ten daughters. Two sons died young and unmarried.

John’s eldest daughter, Flora, “Flossy Raasay”, was to marry Colonel James Muir Campbell of Lawers, later 5th Earl of Loudoun. Flora died in childbirth in 1780 and her daughter, Flora Muir Campbell, succeeded her father as 6th Countess of Loudoun on his sudden death. Flora married Francis Rawdon, Earl of Moira, created Marquis of Hastings in 1816 and afterwards was Governor General of India.

John registered arms in 1779 as Macleod of Raasay. He died in 1786.

James, (c.1761-1823), Twelfth Chief

James was born about 1761. In 1805 he married Flora Ann, daughter of Lt. Col Maclean of Muck. In 1805, influenced by his niece, Flora Campbell, Lady Loudoun and Countess of Moira, James set about adding a magnificent Georgian building to the front of the old house on Raasay.

John and Flora Ann had five sons and a daughter. He was to be succeeded by his eldest son, John. His second son, Malcolm died in 1808. His third son, James, born in 1813, died in Rona, McLaren Vale, in South Australia in 1844, and had a son James Gawler Macleod, born in 1840, who succeeded his uncle John as 14th of Raasay and died unmarried in Agra, India in 1880.

James’ fourth son, Loudoun Hastings, born in 1820, named for his cousin, Lady Loudoun and Marchioness of Hastings, died unmarried in 1868.

James’ fifth son, Francis Hector George, was born in 1824 and emigrated to Australia. He married Alice Fenton in 1858 in Hobart. Their eldest son, Torquil, died young but their second son, Loudoun Hector, was born in 1862 and succeeded his first cousin as 15th of Raasay.

James’ only daughter, Hannah Elizabeth, married Sir John Campbell of Airds and had seven children. After the death of her husband she married Henry Maule and died in 1873.

James, 12th of Raasay, died in 1823 but his widow survived for over twenty years and died in 1846.

John, (c.1806-1860), Thirteenth Chief

John, was born about 1806 and was an officer in the 78th Seaforth Highlanders. He married Mary, only daughter of Sir Donald MacLeod of Bharkasaig. Their only daughter, Mary Julia Hastings, was born in 1838 and died the following year. She was buried in Raasay Church.

Under the burden of debt from the building of the new mansion and living as an officer and gentleman, the Raasay Chief was forced to sell the Isle of Raasay to George Rainy in 1843.

John, 13th Chief, emigrated to South Australia to join his three brothers. He died at Nalang in 1860.

James Gawlor, (1840-1880), Fourteenth Chief

James Gawlor, born in 1840, returned with his mother to England on the death of his father in 1844. He entered the East India Company in 1857 and was commissioned in the 13th Native Infantry. He died in 1880 and was buried at Agra Cantonment. It is doubtful that he ever knew that he had become 14th Chief of Raasay, on the death of his uncle, John, in 1860.

Loudoun Hector, (1862-1934), Fifteenth Chief

Loudoun Hector, was born in 1862 in Hobart, Tasmania, the second but oldest surviving son of Francis Hector George, fifth son of James Macleod, 12th of Raasay. He married Laura Bright. They had two sons and a daughter. Their second son, Loudoun Hector Bright Macleod, married Gladys Davenport in 1919 and they had a son Loudoun Henry Davenport, born 1919. He married Katharine Adair Stride and they had three sons, Malcolm, Ian William, and Francis Roderick. Their daughter, Laura Bright, married twice and had four children.

Loudoun Hector, 15th Chief, died in 1934 and was succeeded by his eldest son.

Torquil Bright, (1889-1968), Sixteenth Chief

Torquil Bright was born in 1889 and served during the First World War in Gallipoli. He married Helen Christine, daughter of George Clarence Nicholas of Tasmania. They had two sons and two daughters.

Torquil Roderick succeeded his father, and had a brother, Henric Nicholas, born 1929, and two sisters, Katharine Christie, born 1921, who married Charles Beckett, and Fiona, born 1932, who married David Caro of Melbourne.

Torquil Bright died in 1968 and was succeeded by his eldest son.

Torquil Roderick, (1919-2001), Seventeenth Chief of Raasay, 11th of the Lewes

Torquil Roderick was born at Dysart House, Kempton, Tasmania in 1919. He served in the Second World War and was a Prisoner of War in Timor and Java. In 1947 he married Patricia Mary, daughter of Harold Frederick Turner, and had two sons.

In 1981 Torquil Roderick matriculated Arms, with Supporters as Chief of the Macleods of Raasay.

In 1988 Torquil Roderick Macleod of Raasay was recognised by Lord Lyon, as Chief and Head of the Baronial House of MacLeod of the Lewes, under The MacLeod of MacLeod, Chief of the hail Name and Arms.

Torquil Roderick, 17th of Raasay and 11th of the Lewes, died in 2001. He was succeeded as MacLeod of the Lewes by his eldest son, Torquil Donald, and as Macleod of Raasay by his second son, Roderick John.

Torquil Donald, (born 1948), Twelfth Chief of the Lewes

Torquil Donald was born in 1948 and succeeded his father as 12th of the Lewes.

Roderick John, (born 1950), Eighteenth Chief of Raasay

Roderick John was born in 1950 and succeeded his father as 18th Chief of the Macleods of Raasay.