Loch Ghruinneart, Isle of Islay

If you picture troops involved in a 14th Century clan battle, fairies are the last thing you would expect to find among the ranks. However according to legend, a fairy is said to have appeared at the Battle of Traigh Ghruinneart, fought between Clan MacDonald and Clan MacLean in 1598. Although it wasn’t the kind of sweet, tinkerbell-esque fairy you’re probably imagining. According to legend, Dubh Sith (Black Fairy) was named after his dark skin and hairy body, and was an excellent archer. But the thing to remember about fairies is that they make great enemies – so you should never, ever cross a fairy.

In 1598 the Isle of Islay in the Inner Hebrides was held by Clan MacDonald, much to the annoyance of the chief of Clan MacLean, Sir Lachlan Mor MacLean. Sir Lachlan claimed that part of the Isle – the Rhinns – were part of the dowry given to his wife in 1566 by her brother Angus MacDonald, chief of Clan MacDonald. However Angus had also promised the Rhinns to Brian Vicar MacKay, lieutenant to the MacDonalds. For years Sir Lachlan had contested this, and in 1598 he finally decided to seek the lands that he claimed were rightfully his from his nephew, the new chief Sir James MacDonald.

In those days a battle was never fought without consulting a ban-fhaidh (wise woman), so Sir Lachlan sought out words of advice before embarking on his campaign. The ban-fhaidh told him under no circumstances should he go to Islay. Sir Lachlan replied that he was honour-bound to do so, and he must go, so the woman gave him three warnings to heed:

1.) Do not land at Islay on a Thursday

2.) Do not fight on the shores of Loch Ghruinneart

3.) Do not drink from the well known as Tobar Niall Neonaich

Three easy pieces of advice to follow to ensure a MacLean victory. However, upon arrival in Islay it wasn’t as easy to take heed of the ban-fhaidh’s warning. After assembling his forces of about 800-1000 men, Sir Lachlan set sail for Islay on a Wednesday. Unfortunately for him, bad weather meant the ship could not land until Thursday. Sir James rode to meet his uncle on the shores of Loch Ghruinneart and pleaded with him for peace, offering the MacLeans half of the island for Lachlan’s lifetime. Sir Lachlan had since learned he had double the men of Clan MacDonald, and was in no mood to compromise, instead demanding Sir James give him the entire island.

And so the troops from each clan lined up to battle at Traigh Ghruinneart (traigh meaning shoreline), which must have sent shivers down Sir Lachlan’s spine. Just before the battle the fairy from Jura known as Dubh Sith approached Sir Lachlan and offered his services as an archer during the battle. Sir Lachlan laughed in the fairy’s mutilated face, turning his back on the creature. Dubh Sith then approached Sir James, who received the fairy with open arms. Dubh Sith told Sir James to look after the battle, and he would take care of Sir Lachlan.

Unseen by the busy troops, Dubh Sith hid and waited in a Rowan tree near Tobar Niall Neonaich. The battle ensued under the hot August sun, and during a lull Sir Lachlan stopped at the well to take a drink. On removing his helmet, Dubh Sith jumped at the chance and shot Sir Lachlan through the eye with an arrow, killing him instantly.

The battle continued, with MacLean men full of rage upon hearing the news of the death of their chief. The MacDonald forces feigned retreat toward the setting sun then turned around to fight with the sun in the eyes of their enemy. The MacDonalds were victorious and chased the remaining MacLeans back to their boats, with some seeking refuge in the Chapel of Kilnave. The chapel was burnt to the ground, killing all but one of the men inside. According to local legend, this man was a aMacMhuirich (Currie) who managed to climb through a hole in the roof when the burning thatch collapsed. He eventually found refuge on the island, with his ancestors still there today.

Cairn marking the spot where Sir Lachlan MacLean fell

Sir Lachlan’s foster mother heard of his death and came to collect the body shortly after the battle. She made a cairn beside the well where he was shot, and carried the body by cart to the church at Kilchoman where she buried him inside the church. When the new church was built on the old site, it was a smaller building, so today Sir Lachlan lies in the grounds outside the church.

It is not known what became of the mysterious Dubh Sith. Following the battle James VI and I awarded the MacDonald lands of Islay to Clan Campbell, leading to an extension of the feud. Clan MacDonald’s reign in Islay came to an end in 1612 when Angus MacDonald, 8th of Dunnyveg, sold his land holdings to Sir John Campbell of Cawdor of Clan Campbell.

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Thomas meeting the Queen of the Fairies

Thomas Learmonth from Ercildoune (now Earlston), better known as Thomas the Rhymer was a 13th century Laird, poet and a supposed prophet.

Legend tells us how Thomas the Rhymer went out walking one day and fell asleep beneath a tree on the side of the Eildon Hills. He awoke to find a shining woman sitting on a grey horse at his side. This woman turned out to be the Queen of the Fairies. It was of no coincidence that they met, as it was Thomas that the queen seeked to meet. Thomas was struck by the Queen’s beauty and immediately fell in love with her and she asked him to kiss her, right under his favourite Eildon tree. The Queen asked Thomas if he would go back with her to the Land of the Fairies to be her lover and he agreed.

Thomas stayed with the fairies for what felt like three days, but was in fact seven years.

When he left the Queen, as a sign of her love for him, she gave Thomas the gift of poetry, of always speaking the truth (which apparently Thomas protested against), and the gift of prophecy.

Thomas made a lot of predictions, which he put into rhyme, about significant events that were to happen to Scotland.

Some of the prophecies attributed to Thomas the Rhymer:

“On the morrow, afore noon, shall blow the greatest wind that ever was heard in Scotland.”

This apparently predicts the death of Alexander III in 1286 who died the day after Thomas said it. The Scottish king was killed on a stormy night when travelling from Edinburgh Castle to see his queen in Kinghorn, Fife, and it is believed that his horse lost it’s footing in the dark and the king was found the following morning on the shore with a broken neck. Alexander died without an heir.

“At Eildon tree, if yon shall be, a brig ower Tweed yon there may see.”

From the Eildon tree that Thomas is talking about you can now, in fact, see a bridge which crosses the river Tweed.

A monument to Thomas the Rhymer

Other supposed predictions that were made by Thomas which have since come true are the succession of Robert the Bruce to the Scottish throne; Scotland’s decisive loss to the English at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513, at which Scotland’s James IV was killed; and he foresaw the union of the Scottish and English crowns which occured in 1603. Thomas allegedly said that when the Tweed flooded into Merlin’s grave, Scotland and England would have one king. Initally it seemed that this prophecy had turned out incorrect, but  on the day of James VI‘s coronation the supposed grave of Merlin in Drumelzier flooded with water from the Tweed.

Thomas went on and lived the rest of his life in the real world, until one day when it is said that Thomas finally went back to see his lover in the Land of the Fairies after he went out for a walk and was never seen again.

In the 17th century, a Scottish Learmonth settled in Russia, and the famous 19th century Russian romantic writer and poet, Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841) claimed to be a descendent of this Learmonth. Lermontov was thought of as the most important poet in Russia after the death of Alexander Pushkin in 1837 and it has been claimed, however never proven, that Lermontov is related to Thomas the Rhymer.

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