The Battle of Harlaw () was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland and those from the west coast.
The battle was part of a series of battles fought to resolve competing claims to the Earldom of Ross, a large region of northern Scotland. Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, had taken control of the earldom ostensibly as guardian of his granddaughter Euphemia Leslie, but in truth, though Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, had the superior claim, Albany wanted Ross for his younger son, John. Donald, Lord of the Isles, had married Euphemia's aunt Mariota. Donald therefore invaded Ross with the intention of seizing the earldom by force and preventing Albany from taking all of Scotland.
The nearest contemporary record of the battle is found in the Irish Annals of Connacht, where under the year 1411, it is stated, "Mac Domnaill of Scotland won a great victory over the Galls of Scotland". The 2011 article by Iain G. MacDonald, "Donald of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross: West-Highland Perspectives on the Battle of Harlaw", also cites sources recording the victory.Iain G. MacDonald, "Donald of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross: West-Highland Perspectives on the Battle of Harlaw" .
Background During the Early Middle Ages, the territory of what later became Scotland was divided between the Gaelic kingdoms of Dál Riata on the western seaboard and Alba in the south-east, and Pictish kingdoms in the northeast of which Fortriu was the most important.Lynch (1992), pp. 39–40 Besides these there were the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Bernicia, later part of Northumbria, and the Brythonic Kingdom of Cumbria.Lynch (1992), p. 45 Viking influence increased in the west, with the Norse-Gaels that became Lords of the Isles taking control of much of Dál Riata in 1156.Keay & Keay (1994) pp. 889–890 The Gaels of Alba acquired Brythonic elements from the conquest of the Kingdom of Strathclyde in the 11th century and increasingly absorbed Norman-French and Anglo-Saxon culture, influences which also spread to the Pictish areas of the northeast.Lynch (1992), pp. 47–50 The lands of Fortriu became part of the Province of Moray, which was conquered by Alba in 1130 and fragmented into territories that were semi-independent of the king in Edinburgh.Lynch (1992), pp. 48, 58–68
There was a long history of conflicts between the Moray gentry and the clans of the West Coast, but some historians present Harlaw as a clash between the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, or between Celt and Teuton. John Hill Burton (1809–1881) claimed that in Lowland Scotland Harlaw "was felt as a more memorable deliverance even than that of Bannockburn. What it was to be subject to England the country knew and disliked; to be subdued by their savage enemies of the mountains opened to them sources of terror of unknown character and extent". However Sir Robert Rait (1874–1936) detected no racial antipathy in the two contemporary accounts of the Scotichronicon and the Book of Pluscarden,Rait, p. 14 – all references to Rait refer to page numbers in [ the Echo Library reprint] of 2007. and viewed Harlaw not as a conflict between races, but between two groups of Scots of which one spoke Scots and the other Gaelic.Rait, pp. 20–21 Rait mentions Buchanan's view that it was a raid for plunder.Rait, p. 24 citing George Buchanan's Rerum Scoticarum Historia Lib. x.
Claims on the Earldom of Ross The Earldom of Ross was a vast territory reaching from Skye to Ross and Inverness-shire, with superiority over the outlying lands of Nairn and Aberdeenshire.Williams (1997) p. 186 In 1370 Uilleam (William), Earl of Ross received a charter from King David II, confirming his right to the title and directing that in the absence of male heirs, the entirety of the earldom, titles and lands would fall to "the elder daughter always" without division. Uilleam died in 1372 without a male heir, and the title passed to his daughter Euphemia. By her first husband Sir Walter Leslie, Euphemia had two children – Alexander Leslie and Mariota (anglicised as Margaret or Mary).Tytler (1845), p. 27 After Walter's death, Euphemia married Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan (the "Wolf of Badenoch") in 1382,Roberts (1999) p. 5. giving the Stewarts control of the earldom. However, in 1392 the Pope annulled the marriage reprinted by John Donald Short Run Press (2007, ). and Ross was returned to Euphemia as Countess of Ross. The Wolf of Badenoch had long been living with his mistress Mairead inghean Eachainn with whom he had a number of children, including Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar.Barrow, G W S, (1981) The Sources for the History of the Highlands in the Middle Ages pp. 16–17 in The Middle Ages in the Highlands ed Lorraine McLean, Inverness Field Club Euphemia died in 1394 and her son Alexander Leslie inherited the title.Roberts (1999) p. 16.
Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany had taken effective control of mainland Scotland towards the end of the reign of his father Robert II; his power increased during the reign (1390–1406) of his ineffective elder brother Robert III. Albany's daughter Isabel Stewart married Alexander Leslie before 1398 and their only child was a sickly daughter, also called Euphemia. According to the Calendar of Fearn, Leslie died on 8 May 1402, whilst his daughter was still a minor. Albany claimed wardship of Euphemia, and planned to take over Ross. After the capture by the English of Robert III's heir James and Robert's death soon afterwards in April 1406, Albany was confirmed as regent; Albany continued to govern Scotland until his death in September 1420.
Meanwhile, Donald (Domhnall), Lord of the Isles claimed the earldom of Ross through his marriage to Euphemia's aunt, Mariota, the oldest living female descendant of Uilleam. He also signed an alliance with Henry IV of England on 16 September 1405, which was renewed on 8 May 1408.
According to Skene, Euphemia became a nun before the battle.
Invasion and the preceding Battle of Dingwall It took Donald time to ready his assault, but in 1411 he assembled his forces at Ardtornish Castle Reprint on the Sound of Mull and invaded Ross.Sources differ on whether he marched across Ross or sailed in a fleet of galleys around the north of Scotland to Dingwall. The latter would have played to the islanders' strengths, possibly they did both. He met no opposition until "a severe conflict" quoting A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland from Its Origin to the Year 1630 by Sir Robert Gordon at Dingwall, seat of the Earls of Ross, where, at the Battle of Dingwall, he fought a large body of men of the Clan Mackay from "Strathnaver". Their leader Angus Du Mackay, 7th of Strathnaver was captured and his brother Rory-Gald was killed along with "the greater part of his men";Tytler (1845), p. 28 Donald then captured and garrisoned Dingwall Castle. He imprisoned Mackay in a castle on the west coast and after the battle made peace with him, giving Angus his sister, Elizabeth, in marriage.The Book of Mackay by Angus Mackay, at p. 55.
Donald assembled his army at Inverness, and summoned all the fighting men in Boyne and Enzie (northern Banffshire between the Rivers Deveron and Spey) to join his army. He then swept through Moray meeting little or no resistance. He then turned south-east, following roughly the route of the modern A96 road although the main road ran north of the River Urie, not south as it does today. Donald's men committed "great excesses" in Strathbogie and the Garioch, which belonged to Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar.Tytler (1845), p. 29 Finally the Islesmen and their Highlander allies came to Bennachie, the last hill of the Grampians before the coastal plain between Inverurie and Aberdeen.Hill Burton (1867), pp. 100–101 Donald was now within of Aberdeen burgh. On 23 July 1411, he set up camp just north of Inverurie, on high ground 2 km northwest of the bridge over the River Urie.
The Earl of Mar, who had made a pact with Albany to lead an army for him, had plenty of warning of their advance, and had assembled a force from among the gentry of Buchan, Angus and the Mearns (Kincardineshire). The Irvings, Maules, Moray, Straitons, Lesleys, Stirlings and Lovels were led by their respective clan chiefs. Mar gathered his troops at Inverurie, a strategic town on the Inverness-Aberdeen road, and on the morning of 24 July marched northwest to meet Donald.
Battle According to the Scotichronicon, the two armies joined battle on the eve of the feast of St JamesRait (2007), p. 166 quoting the Scotichronicon – 24 July 1411.Tytler (1845), p. 32 The same source and many others put Donald's army at 10,000 Islanders, Highland clans with marriage bloodlines as well as men of Ross, They were armed with swords, bows and axes, short knives, and round targe shields. Description of the battle is almost word-for-word the same as Tytler p. 31, and draws heavily on the Scotichronicon.
Tradition has it that they faced a force numbering between 1,000 and 2,000 men; with significant numbers of knights. As an example, one Sir Gilbert de Greenlaw died at Harlaw and his tombstone at Kinkell Church, has a drawing of Sir Gilbert's tombstone that is clearer than a photo: () Kinkell Church is south of Inverurie, at gives an idea of how Mar's knights were equipped. Sir Gilbert carried a hand and a half sword and wore an open-faced bascinet helmet with a mail-reinforced arming doublet beneath plate armour. Mar's men also carried spears, maces, and battle axes. Tradition has it that the black armour in the entrance hall of Aberdeen Town House belonged to Robert Davidson, Provost of Aberdeen, p. 48 has a hand-drawn map of the battle that is very different from the Battlefields Trust map in the external links section. who died in the battle along with most of the city's burgesses.
On spotting the Islesmen and their Highlander allies, Mar organised his force into battle array, with the main army behind a small advance guard of men-at-arms under Sir James Scrymgeour (Constable of Dundee, the hereditary standard-bearer of Scotland) and Sir Alexander Ogilvie of Auchterhouse (Sheriff of Angus). He probably split the army into three, with the knights as a cavalry reserve (some say they led the battle) and the infantry arranged in schiltrons, close-packed arrays of spearmen. There is no mention of significant numbers of archers. The Islanders and their Highlander allies were arranged in the traditional cuneiform or wedge shape, with Hector MacLean commanding the right wing and Callum Beg Macintosh, chief of the Clan Mackintosh and the confederation of Clan Chattan, on the left. Donald, Lord of the Isles commanded the centre of the army himself, backed by the MacLeods of Harris and MacLeods of Lewis, and his younger brother, John Mór Tanister, commanded the reserve, backed by the Mackenzies and Camerons. At first, the clansmen launched themselves at Scrymgeour's men, but failed to make much impression on the armoured column and many were slain. However, every wave that was repulsed, was replaced by fresh men. Mar led his knights into the main body of Donald's army and became cut off. They brought down the knights' warhorses and then used their dirks to finish off the riders.
By nightfall, the ballads claim that 600 of Mar's men were dead, including Ogilvie and his son, Scrymgeour, Sir Robert Maule, Sir Thomas Morrow (Murray), William Abernethy, Alexander Straiton of Lauriston, James Lovel, Alexander Stirling, and Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum; according to Maclean history the latter duelled with Hector Maclean until both were dead. Many families lost every male in their house; Lesley of Balquhain died with six of his sons.