=2. The Highlands.=--When James had thus got rid of his dangerous cousins, he turned his attention to the _Highlands_ and _Western Isles_, which presented a strange mixture of Celtic and of feudal manners. They were ruled partly by Norman barons, and partly by native chiefs, and these barons or chiefs were both alike upheld by that personal devotion of their vassals which was the strong point of Celtic clanship. James summoned the chiefs to a parliament at _Inverness_ in 1427. They obeyed the summons, and were at once seized and imprisoned. Three of them were hanged at that time. Several others shared the same fate at a later date. Others were imprisoned, and a small remnant only allowed to go away unhurt. _Alexander, Lord of the Isles_, was among these last, and the first use he made of his recovered liberty was to bring his islemen down on Inverness, which they destroyed. James hurried northward again and defeated him in _Lochaber_. Alexander gave himself up to the King's grace, and was confined in _Tantalion Castle_. But his kinsman, _Donald Balloch_, set himself at the head of the clans and they defeated the royal army. James determined to crush the Celts once and for ever. An additional tax was levied for the purpose, and James set out once more for the north. But the chiefs, who saw that the King was just then too strong for them, met him with proffers of homage and submission. Such submissions were, however, practically worthless. In the eyes of the Celts they were just as little binding as the parchment title-deeds by which the government sought to change their chiefs into feudal barons.