The Battle of Glenboultachan 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 fought in 1522 in Glen Boultachan,

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

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 Macnab and the Clan Neish or MacNeish. The Macnabs won the battle.

Background

It is recorded that in 1490

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

issued a warrant to Lord Drummond that read: This translates as: The Neishes apparently had the only boat on the loch and although the dwelling was demolished the Neishes repaired it and continued to live there, occupying most of the land near

St Fillans St Fillans is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland, in the council area of Perth and Kinross. The village lies at the eastern end of Loch Earn, west of Comrie on the A85 road, at the point where the River Earn leaves t ...

and as far west as

Tyndrum Tyndrum (; gd, Taigh an Droma) is a small village in Scotland. Its Gaelic name translates as "the house on the ridge". It lies in Strathfillan, at the southern edge of Rannoch Moor. Location and facilities Tyndrum is a popular tourist village, ...

. The Clan Macnab and Clan Neish were at

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

due to a long series of petty jealousies and grievances on both sides. Frequently small groups of the clans had met and fought each other, but finally both clans mustered their full force and met at Glenboltachan where a regular battle took place.

The battle

The final battle between the two clans took place where the farm of Littleport is located about two miles north of the lower end of

Loch Earn Loch Earn (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Eire/Loch Éireann'') is a freshwater loch in the southern Scottish Highlands, highlands of Scotland, in the districts of Perth and Kinross and Stirling (council area), Stirling. Th ...

in the Glen of Boultachan in 1522. Finlay Macnab gathered together all of his fighting men for one final effort for the supremacy of the northern Loch Earn district. During the battle the chief of the Neishes long held his own, standing with his back to a large boulder. Eventually he was overcome and fell covered with wounds. According to tradition his blood still stains the boulder. Three sons of the Neish chief perished by his side. The rest of the Neishes also fought stubbornly but they were finally overcome and only a remnant of them were able to escape. Only thirty of the 500 Neishes survived the battle.

Aftermath

The remaining Neishes settled on an island on Loch Earn,

Neish Island Neish Island is an island in Loch Earn, Scotland. History It is recorded that in 1490 James IV of Scotland ordered Lord Drummond to cast down the house of the Ester (eastern) Isle of Loch Ern (Neish Island) and destroy all the strengths of th ...

, under the leadership of one of the relatives of their former chief. The feud between the Neishes and Macnabs continued and in one incident in 1612, the Neishes ambushed a Macnab servant, or according to another account some MacNab clansmen, who had been sent by his chief to procure provisions and drink for the Christmas celebrations. The Neishes took all the goods and mistreated the servant who warned the Neishes that there would be reprisals, but they laughed at his threats and retreated to their island. In response the Macnab chief sent his twelve sons to attack the Neishes on their island stronghold. The Neishes having succumbed to the drink were all killed except for one small boy who hid under a bed and from who all of the name Neish are allegedly descended. The leader of the Macnabs, "smooth John", then decapitated the Neish chieftain before they departed, keeping his head as a trophy. The boat that the Macnabs used to get to and from the island was abandoned by them and could apparently still be seen by passers-by as late as the eighteenth century. Another account states that the boat was still to be seen in the nineteenth century. The Macnab chief's coat of arms includes "an open boat, ores in action", and the Neish's head appears on the crest badge for the Clan Macnab.

References

Glenboultachan Glenboultachan Glenboultachan {{Scottish clan battles, state=collapsed