So many excesses were committed at this time by the
Mackenzies that the Earl of Huntly, Lieutenant of the North, was
compelled, notwithstanding their services in repelling the invasion
of the Macdonalds, to proceed against them as oppressors of the
lieges. [Gregory, p.57. Kilravock Writs, p.170, and Acts of
Council.]
A blacksmith, known as Glaishean Gow or "Gobha," one of Lovat's
people, in whose father's house Agnes Fraser, Mackenzie's wife, was
fostered, hearing of the advance of the Macdonalds to the Mackenzie
territory, started with a few followers in the direction of Conan,
but arrived too late to take part in the fight. They were, however,
in time to meet those few who managed to ford or swim the river,
and killed every one of them so that they found an opportunity
"to do more service than if they had been at the battle."
This insurrection cost the Macdonalds the Lordship of the Isles,
as others had previously cost them the Earldom of Ross. In
a Parliament held in Edinburgh in 1493, the possessions of the
Lord of the Isles were declared forfeited to the Crown. In the
following January the aged Earl appeared before King James IV., and
made a voluntary surrender of everything, after which he remained
for several years in the King's household as a Court pensioner.
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