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The Gentleman Adventurers of Fife or Fife Adventurers were a group of 11 noblemen-colonists, largely from eastern Fife, awarded rights from
King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
to colonise the Isle of Lewis in 1598.


Background

In 1597, the MacLeod clan chiefs were served with papers from the government stating that despite their centuries-long feudal tenure of the Isle of Lewis, their lack of legal paperwork exposed the lands to claims from the Crown. This stemmed from an
Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliamen ...
requiring all
Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
clan chiefs to prove legal ownership of their land. This head-over-heels legislation exposed many long-held ancestral lands to seizure. The generally title-less lands of the Highlands and islands became a target for the more document-conscious Lowlanders. Legally trained nobility were the first to take opportunity of this, creating papers for lands with which they had no historical connection.


The re-colonisation of Lewis

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
had the aim of beginning the "civilising" or "de-
Gaelicisation Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the '' Gaels'', a sub-branch of celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread from ...
" of the islands and had much in common with the Plantation of Ulster which occurred some years later. James regarded the need for civilisation as sufficiently important to employ "slauchter, mutilation, fyre-raising, or utheris inconvenieties" if necessary. In fact, he had initially planned to murder all of the native inhabitants in order to facilitate settlement, but was persuaded to abandon this plan as impractical. Most notable were the Gentleman Adventurers. In 1598, a group of noblemen, several from east Fife, sought the approval of King James for the colonisation of the Isle of Lewis. This had at its core a concept to exploit the island's natural resources. The noblemen were Patrick Leslie of
Lindores Lindores is a small village in Fife, Scotland, in the parish of Abdie, about 2 miles south-east of Newburgh. It is situated on the north-east shore of Lindores Loch, a 44 ha freshwater loch. A possible derivation of the name ''Lindores'' is 'chu ...
, James Learmonth of
Balcomie The Crail Golfing Society is a Scottish golf club established in February 1786 in the Golf Hotel, Crail, Fife. The society is the seventh oldest golf club in the world. Its oldest course, Balcomie, was formally laid out by Old Tom Morris in 18 ...
, Sir James Anstruther, Master of Household to
Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Engl ...
, James Spens of Wormieston, Sir James Sandilands of
Slamannan Slamannan ( gd, Sliabh Mhanainn) is a village in the south of the Falkirk council area in Central Scotland. It is south-west of Falkirk, east of Cumbernauld and north-east of Airdrie. Slamannan is located at the cross of the B803 and B8022 ...
, Cpt William Murray, John Forret of Fingask, Sir William Stewart,
Commendator of Pittenweem The Prior of May then Prior of Pittenweem (later Commendator of Pittenweem) was the religious superior of the Benedictine monks of Isle of May Priory, which later moved to the mainland became called Pittenweem Priory. The priory was originally ba ...
, Sir George Home of Wedderburn and his son David Home, and the
Duke of Lennox The title Duke of Lennox has been created several times in the peerage of Scotland, for Clan Stewart of Darnley. The dukedom, named for the district of Lennox in Dumbarton, was first created in 1581, and had formerly been the Earldom of Lenn ...
, the king's cousin. The
Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council of ...
granted the adventurers an "infestment" of the lands of Lewis. The Gentlemen Adventurers of Fife arrived at the Isle of Lewis by ship from
St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...
in 1599 with a private army of 600 men. A settlement of primitive houses was created on the Lewis coast near where
Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well a ...
now stands, in an area now called South Beach. The Clan Macleod were feudal lords of Lewis and the then clan chief Roderick Macleod sent his sons, Neil and Murdoch, to harass the new settlers. Murdoch, in particular, was a man of much learning, and was trained in the law, rather than being an illiterate pagan as the settlers purported. He served the settlers with legal papers stating the illegality of their actions. Failing any action Murdoch attacked the settlement and captured their ship and James Learmonth whom he detained for 6 months. Soon after Neil Macleod attacked the settlement with 200 men, killing 20 settlers, and seizing their property and livestock. A power struggle then began between the Macleod brothers and Neil agreed to surrender Murdoch to the remaining settlers in exchange for a pardon for his own crimes, in a court in Edinburgh. However, the agreement soured, and on return to Lewis he killed a further 60 settlers in anger. Although the Adventurers were forced to return to Fife, MacKenzie of Kintail a rival clan, was given free leave by the Crown to attack the island of Lewis in exchange for its land, and was pushed into hunting down Neil Macleod who was eventually captured on the island of
Berisay Bearasaigh or Bearasay (and sometimes Berisay) is an islet in outer Loch Ròg, Lewis, Scotland. During the late 16th and early 17th centuries it was used as a pirates' hideout and the remains of various buildings from that period still exist. ...
. Neil Macleod was taken to Edinburgh by ship and put on trial. On 30 March 1613, he was charged with fire-raising, murder, theft and piracy. He was hanged at the Mercat Cross on the Royal Mile on 1 April. He was not beheaded whilst alive (a punishment reserved for noblemen) but his head was removed post mortem and was placed on a spike above the Nether Bow Port. His lands were forfeited to the Crown.


Kintrye

James VI backed another scheme in August 1598 to establish colonists on the
Kintyre Kintyre ( gd, Cinn Tìre, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately no ...
peninsula on the west of Scotland. The
Privy Council of Scotland The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of ...
hired Robert Jameson's ship to carry the king to Kintyre. Robert Jameson was instructed to hire sailors in Ayr and borrow suitable weapons and cannon in the town. This expedition was cancelled. James VI had planned to dispossess the landholders and install a colony of settlers from Fife. The previous inhabitants of Kintyre would have had to resettle in Ireland.''HMC Salisbury Hatfield'', vol. 8 (London, 1899), pp. 322-3.


See also

* Anglicisation *
Colonisation Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...


External links


Career of James Spens of Wormestoun, SPENS, JAMES [SSNE 1642].


References

{{reflist Human migration Isle of Lewis History of colonialism People from Fife 1598 in Scotland