The Battle of Dingwall was a

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Goidelic languages, Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official ...

battle said to have taken place in the year 1411, in

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cast ...

in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

. It was fought between the

Clan Mackay Clan Mackay ( ; gd, Clann Mhic Aoidh ) is an ancient and once-powerful Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old Mormaer of Moray, Kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert I ...

and the

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

Accounts of the Battle

Sir Robert Gordon (c. 1630)

Sir Robert Gordon, from his book the ''A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland'': ''This Angus-Dow Mackay fought against Donald, Lord of the Isles at Dingwall in Ross, because that Donald had molested some friends which Angus-Dow had in that country. At this conflict Angus Dow was overcome and taken prisoner, and his brother Rory-Gald, with divers others, were slain. Donald of the Isles having detained Angus-Dow a while in captivity, released him, and gave him his daughter in marriage, whom Angus-Dow carried home with him to Strathnaver, and had a son by her, called Niel-Wass, so named because he was imprisoned in the Bass.''

Robert Mackay (1829)

Robert Mackay gives an account of the battle in his book ''History of the House and Clan of Mackay'' (1829), quoting from the ''A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland'' by Sir Robert Gordon: ''Donald of the Isles, says Sir Robert, conceived such indignation and displeasure at his being deprived of the earldom, that he raised all the power of the Isles, and invaded and spoiled the country of Ross, where he was met by Angus-Dow Mackay, some of whose friends he had injured; a severe conflict ensued, when Mackay, overpowered by numbers, was overcome, his brother Roderick slain, and himself taken prisoner. Emboldened by this victory, Donald marched through Inverness and Murray, threatening to destroy all before him, which issued in the well known

Battle of Harlaw The Battle of Harlaw ( gd, Cath Gairbheach) 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 ag ...

, fought in the year 1411; in which there were slain on Donald's part, MacLean and MacKintosh, and on the other side Sir Alexander Ogilvy, Sir James Scrimeor, Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum, Sir William Aberthy of Saltoun, Sir Robert Maule of Panmure, Sir Robert Davidson, and divers other gentlemen''.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the Battle of Dingwall and the

, according to 17th-century historian Sir Robert Gordon, chief Angus Du Mackay married a daughter of Donald MacDonald, Lord of the Isles. However, 19th-century historian Angus Mackay states that chief Angus Du Mackay actually married a sister of the Lord of the Isles, not his daughter.

Other accounts

According to Alister Farquar Matheson, Angus Mackay led a force of

Mackays M&Co Trading Limited, previously Mackays Stores Limited until its 2020 administration, (previously trading as Mackays, now trading as M&Co.) is a Scottish chain store selling women's, men's, and children's clothes, as well as small homeware p ...

Munros A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

, Mackenzies and

Dingwalls Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...

at the Battle of Dingwall against

Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles Donald, Lord of the Isles ( gd, Dómhnall; died 1423), was the son and successor of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. The Lordship of the Isles was based in and around the Scottish west-coast island of Islay, but unde ...

. According to

Norman Macrae Norman Alastair Duncan Macrae (1923 – 11 June 2010) was a British economist, journalist and author, considered by some to have been one of the world's best forecasters when it came to economics and society. Career Macrae joined ''The Economis ...

The Eagle Stone (in English, the "Sounding Stone") or The Eagle Stone is a small Class I Pictish stone located on a hill on the northern outskirts of Strathpeffer in Easter Ross, Scotland. Description The stone is made of blue gneiss and is high, wide, and ...

near Dingwall was placed there by the Munros while marching against Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles in 1411. However, according to

Charles Ian Fraser Charles Ian Fraser of Reelig (1903 – 1963) was a Scottish British Army officer, historian and officer of arms. Fraser was a commissioned officer in the Lovat Scouts. He served in the Second World War and in 1942 he was awarded the Efficiency D ...

, there is no positive proof for the assumption that the Munros were with Angus Mackay at this battle and that some Munros did in fact fight in the Lord of the Isles' host at the subsequent Battle of Harlaw.

References

External links

Mackay, The Scottish Nation@ ElectricScotland.com
{{Coord, 57.597, -4.428, region:GB, display=title 1411 in Scotland

Dingwall