The Battle of Tuiteam Tarbhach ( gd, "plentiful slaughter"; also known as Tuttim–Tarwach, Tuttim–Turwigh, Tuttim–Tarwigh or Tutim Tarvach) was a

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from 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 structure recognised ...

battle in which the

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 ...

wiped out raiders from the

Clan MacLeod of Lewis Clan MacLeod of The Lewes, commonly known as Clan MacLeod of Lewis ( gd, Clann Mhic Leòid Leòdhais), is a Highland Scottish clan, which at its height held extensive lands in the Western Isles and west coast of Scotland. From the 14th century up ...

who were returning from an attack on Mackay land in

Strathnaver Strathnaver or Strath Naver ( gd, Srath Nabhair) is the fertile strath of the River Naver, a famous salmon river that flows from Loch Naver to the north coast of Scotland. The term has a broader use as the name of an ancient province also kn ...

. The Mackays caught up with the raiders on the north bank of the

River Oykel The River Oykel ( gd, Òiceall or , ) is a major river in northern Scotland that is famous for its salmon fishing. It rises on Ben More Assynt, a few miles from Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland, and drains into the North Sea via the Kyle ...

some three miles west of where the river joins the River Cassley at the head of the

Kyle of Sutherland The Kyle of Sutherland ( gd, An Caol Catach) is a river estuary that separates Sutherland from Ross-shire. It flows into the Dornoch Firth at Bonar Bridge, and is fed by the rivers Oykel, Shin, River Cassley and Carron. The downstream extent o ...

. The battle probably took place in 1406, but the date is uncertain from the manuscripts.

Background

Angus Mackay, 6th of Strathnaver Angus Mackay, 6th of Strathnaver (died 1403) was the sixth chief of the ancient Clan Mackay, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. Early life Angus Mackay, 6th of Strathnaver, was the eldest son of Donald Mackay, 5th of Strathnaver. However, ...

had married Referred to as ''Conflicts of the Clans'', this is probably based on Gordon's account. Sidheag, sister of Roderick, chief of the MacLeods. When Angus died, he left his brother Black Hugh (''Uistean'' Dow or ''Houcheon Dubh'') as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

("tutor") for his two sons Angus Dow (''Dubh'') and Rory ''Gald'' (Roderick ''Gald'', "Lowland"). When Roderick heard that his sister was in dispute with Hugh Mackay in 1406, he decided to resolve the matter by sending a company of men to the Reay Country, the Mackay lands that bordered Caithness. The men were led by Roderick's brother, Malcolm (''Máel Coluim'' or ''Maol Choluim'') MacLeod, later known as ''Gille-caluim Beag'', ''Gill-callum-beg-Macbhowan'' or ''Gilealm Beg McBowen'' ("Malcolm the Little"); "''gille''" had come to replace "''maol''" in such names. Failing to come to an amicable agreement, Malcolm ravaged Mackay lands in

, and the Sutherland district of Brae-Chat (Breachat), around

Lairg Lairg ( gd, An Luirg, meaning "the shank/shin") is a village and parish in Sutherland, Scotland. It has a population of 891 and is at the south-eastern end of Loch Shin. Lairg is unusual in the northern Highlands in being a large settlement th ...

at the south end of

Loch Shin Loch Shin ( gd, Loch Sìn, ) is a loch in the Scottish North West Highlands. To the south is the small town of Lairg. The loch, the largest in Sutherland, runs from the north-west to the south-east and is long. In the 1950s, the level of the loc ...

. This provoked both the Mackays and Robert

Earl of Sutherland Earl of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa 1230 for William de Moravia and is the premier earldom in the Peerage of Scotland. The earl or countess of Sutherland is also the chief of Clan Sutherland. The origin ...

, the latter sending a company of men under Alexander Murray of Cubin (''Alistair Ne-Shrem-Gorme'') to join Hugh Mackay in pursuit of the raiders. Now available on CD (); most other accounts are based on Gordon's.

Battle plans

The River Oykel and its estuary the Kyle of Sutherland stretch across the Highlands from Dornoch on the east coast almost to Ullapool on the west coast. The river is the traditional boundary between Sutherland to the north and Ross to the south, and is a major transport artery linking the East Coast to the MacLeod territory of Assynt in the west. The Mackays and Sutherland men caught up with the MacLeods as they were crossing the Tutim Burn, laden down by booty and stolen cattle.

Battle

Initially Mackay tried to just recover his property. When the MacLeods objected, a "long, furious, cruel, and doubtful...rather desperate than resolute"Gordon cited on p406 of ''New Statistical Account of Scotland''. battle ensued, which ended with the slaughter of all the MacLeods except one, who managed to return to Lewis and report the defeat before dying of his wounds.

Aftermath

Angus Dow succeeded his uncle as chief of the Mackays when Hugh died two years later. Despite his defeat by Donald, Lord of the Isles, at the

Battle of Dingwall The Battle of Dingwall was a Scottish clan battle said to have taken place in the year 1411, in Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between the Clan Mackay and the Clan Donald. Accounts of the Battle Sir Robert Gordon (c. 1630) Si ...

in 1411, the Mackays appear to have prospered and expanded under Angus Dow and he is regarded as the ancestor of all the Mackay chiefs. By 1427 he was important enough to be one of the chiefs summoned to a parliament in Inverness, where they were arrested by

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

. At that time he had 4,000 men under his command according to the ''

Scotichronicon The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of Ireland and thereb ...

''; such power led to his nickname of ''Enneas-en-Imprissi'', "Angus the Absolute". Numerous cairns once marked the battlefield, but their stones have since been used for building

dry stone wall Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction m ...

s. A cemetery was later built on the hillside to the east of the battlefield; according to local legend the cemetery wall was built from the cairns. Today the A837 road runs through the battlefield.

Notes and references

Most descriptions of the battle are based on that in Gordon's ''Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuiteam Tarbhach 1406 in Scotland 15th-century Scottish clan battles Clan Macleod battles History of the Scottish Highlands Conflicts in 1406 Clan Mackay

Background

Battle plans

Battle

Aftermath

See also

Notes and references