Lord Kintail lost no time in taking possession of the island,--and
all the inhabitants, shortly after his landing, with the exception
of Neill Macleod and a few others, submitted to him. Neill, along
with his nephews, Malcolm, William, and Roderick, the three sons of
Roderick Og, the four sons of Torquill Blair, and thirty others,
retired to an impregnable rock in the sea called Berrissay, on the
west of Lewis, into which Neill had been accustomed, for some years,
to send provisions and other necessary articles to serve him in case
of necessity. Neill lived on this rock for three years, Lord Kintail
in the meantime dying in 1611. As Macleod could not be attacked
in his impregnable position, and as his proximity was a source of
annoyance, the clan Kenzie fell on the following expedient to get
quit of him. They gathered together the wives and children of those
that were in Berrissay, and also all persons in the island related
to them by consanguinity or affinity, and having placed them on a
rock in the sea, so near Berrissay that they could be heard and seen
by Neill and his party, the clan Kenzie vowed that they would suffer
the sea to overwhelm them, on the return of the flood-tide, if Neill
did not instantly surrender the fort. This appalling spectacle had
such an effect upon Macleod and his companions, that they immediately
yielded up the rock and left Lewis.
Neill Macleod then retired into Harris, where he remained concealed
for a time; but not being able to avoid discovery any longer, he
gave himself up to Sir Roderick Macleod of Harris, and entreated
him to carry him into England to the king, a request with which Sir
Roderick promised to comply. In proceeding on his journey, however,
along with Macleod, he was charged at Glasgow, under pain of treason,
to deliver up Neill to the privy council. Sir Roderick obeyed the
charge, and Neill, with his eldest son Donald, were presented to
the privy council at Edinburgh, where Neill was executed in April
1613. His son Donald was banished from the kingdom of Scotland, and
immediately went to England, where he remained three years with Sir
Robert Gordon, tutor of Sutherland, and from England he afterwards
went to Holland, where he died.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account