Aonghas Óg (died 1490) was a Scottish nobleman who was the last independent
Lord of the Isles
Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles
( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was ...
. Aonghas became a rebel against both his father and the Scottish crown, in a civil clan war which would see the end of the independent Lordship of the Isles.
Biography
Aonghas was born the bastard son of
John MacDonald, Earl of Ross a.k.a. (John of Islay, Lord of the Isles). In time, Aonghas would become a rebel against both his father and against the Scottish crown.
In 1476, a secret treaty that was made by Aonghas's father, John MacDonald, with King
Edward IV of England
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
was discovered by King
James III of Scotland
James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburg ...
, who then stripped MacDonald of his earldom, as well as the sheriffdoms of
Nairn
Nairn (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland Council council areas of Scotland, area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nair ...
and
Inverness
Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
, and the lordships of
Kintyre
Kintyre (, ) 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 Loch Tarbert, Argyll, East and West Loch Tarbert, Argyll, West Loch Tarbert in t ...
and
Knapdale; the King however confirmed MacDonald with the remainder of his lands and the title Lord of the Isles. It appears that Aonghas, as MacDonald's heir, was not prepared to accept this settlement. Aonghas campaigned to regain Ross and the other lost dominions. At first, he may have been supported by his father, but this did not last. Aonghas married Lady Mary Campbell, daughter of
Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll and Isabel Stewart.
Macdonald, his prestige in tatters, was driven from
Islay
Islay ( ; , ) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll and Bute just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's cap ...
by his son Aonghas. However, he managed to gather support among the MacGill'Eain ("MacLean") kindred of Duart, the MacLeoid kindred of
Lewis and
Harris, and the MacNeill kindred of
Barra
Barra (; or ; ) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway.
In 2011, the population was 1,174. ...
, as well as the support of the Scottish crown and
John Stewart, Earl of Atholl; but, Aonghas had the important support of
Domhnall Ballach and the rest of the MacDomhnaill kindred.
Rebellion and war
Aonghas gathered his forces and those of his allies against the armies of his father, and a great sea battle took place near
Tobermory, the
Battle of the Bloody Bay, probably in the year 1481, in which Aonghas defeated the galleys of his father's west highland allies. In the same year, another battle took place at Lagabraad, in which Aonghas defeated a royal army led by the
Earl of Atholl. According to Hugh MacDonald's ''History of the MacDonalds'', 517 of Atholl's men were slain. Aonghas followed up his victory by retaking control of
Dingwall Castle and
Easter Ross.
Aonghas had benefitted from political distractions in the south. By 1483 those distractions were over, and the earl of Atholl and
earl of Huntly were able to bring their presence to bear on the north, forcing Aonghas to retreat back to the west. However, the great magnate rebellion of 1488 gave Aonghas another chance to move east and Aonghas was able to seize control of Inverness.
Death and legacy
In 1490 Aonghas had his throat cut while he was sleeping. The murderer was his
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
ist, Diarmaid O'Cairbre, who carried out the act for reasons which remain unclear. Following Aonghas' death, the crown launched a new campaign against the power of the Lord of the Isles, and Aonghas' son
Domhnall Dubh was captured by
Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll. Aonghas' death would see the effective end of the independent Lordship of the Isles. Henceforth the power of the
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...
and the Crown of Scotland would be greatly increased. Aonghas left a daughter named Màiri, from whom the
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
Bard
In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...
Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair
Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1698–1770), legal name Alexander MacDonald, or, in Gaelic Alasdair MacDhòmhnaill, was a Scottish war poet, satirist, lexicographer, and memoirist.
He was born at Dalilea into the Noblesse, Scottish nobili ...
was descended.
References
* MacDougall, Norman, "Achilles' Heel? The Earldom of Ross, the Lordship of the Isles, and the Stewart Kings, 1449-1507", in Edward J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era'', (Edinburgh, 2000), pp. 248–75
*Oliver, Neil, ''A History of Scotland'', Phoenix, London (2010)
*
Oram, Richard, "The Lordship of the Isles, 1336-1545", in Donald Omand (ed.) ''The Argyll Book'', (Edinburgh, 2005), pp. 123–39
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aonghas Og
1490 deaths
15th-century Scottish nobility
15th-century rebels
Clan Donald
Medieval Gaels from Scotland
Nobility from Argyll and Bute
Scottish murder victims
Year of birth unknown