He took
all the remaining able-bodied men along with him, and on his way
back to Kinellan he was joined by his dependants in Strathconan,
Strathgarve, and other glens in the Braes of Ross, all fully
determined to defend Kenneth and his aged father at the expense,
if need be, of their lives, small as their united forces were in
comparison with that against which they knew they would soon have
to contend.
Macdonald had meanwhile collected his friends, and, at the head
of a large body of Western Highlanders, advanced through Lochaber
into Badenoch, where he was joined by the Clan Chattan; marched
to Inverness, where they were met by the young laird of Kilravock
and some of Lovat's people; reduced the Castle (then a royal
fortress), placed a garrison in it, and proceeded to the north-east,
plundering the lands of Sir Alexander Urquhart, Sheriff of Cromarty.
They next marched westward to the district of Strathconan, ravaged
the lands of the Mackenzies as they went, and put the inhabitants
and more immediate retainers of the family to the sword, resolutely
determined to punish Mackenzie for his ill-treatment of Lady
Margaret and recover possession of that part of the Earldom of
Ross forfeited by the earls of that name, and now the property of
Mackenzie by Royal charter.
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