Blood on the chapel walls

For two centuries, it was said, bloodstains could be seen on the walls of the chapel of St Tayr in Caithness following a savage encounter between the Keiths and the Clan Gunn. Whether that in fact was true or not is unimportant, for the story served as a kind of a marker in the consciousness of the local people, reminding them of just how bloody and vicious the inter-clan warfare of the 15th and 16th century had been.

There is no doubt the fateful encounter in the chapel did take place - and there's no doubt, too, a few years after, that there was revenge in kind for the losers on that day, the Gunns.

There had been a long feud between the Keiths and Gunns and to settle it once and for all, 'peace talks' were arranged in the chapel, with each side allowed 12 horsemen.

The dozen on the Gunn side included the chief of the clan, several of his sons and some of the principal figures connected with the clan. At the appointed hour all entered the chapel and immediately bowed and prayed in front of the alter.

While they were praying the Keiths arrived, led by the laird of Inverugie and Aikregell. They, too, had their dozen horses as agreed, but instead of one rider, each animal carried two men. On dismounting, the armed men stormed into the chapel catching the praying Gunns unawares.

Of course the Gunns were outnumbered two to one, so the outcome was easily predictable. However, by all accounts, the Gunns fought long and hard and died to a man, but many of the Keiths were also slain in the vicious encounter.

There was a survivor, James Gunn, a son of the clan chief, but only because he'd been unable to be at his father's side. After the slaughter, James thought it best to settle in Sutherland, out of harm's way, and there he had a son.

However, as was the way of the Highlands, there would be revenge, even although the opportunity would take nearly 40 years to present itself. By then it was 1516 and Adam, Earl of Sutherland, with enemies seemingly all around, tried to strengthen his position and gain a little bit of security by cutting a deal with his neighbour, the Earl of Caithness, offering some land to seal the alliance.

But, despite the offering, the Earl of Caithness decided to join with the enemies of the Earl of Sutherland anyway. Now bring into the picture for a second or two Roy Mackay, a trusty friend of the Earl of Sutherland. When Roy Mackay died his bastard sons, John and Donald Mackay battled it out with his elderly brother Neil (their uncle) over possession of his lands.

When John took possession of the lands - at Strathnaver - the uncle turned to the Earl of Caithness for a bit of help (so much for family loyalty). The Earl of Caithness provided a small army with which Neil Mackay, along with his two sons, took to Strathnaver and claimed the disputed land as their own. John Mackay rushed off to Clan Chattan and Clan MacKenzie for some help, leaving his brother Donald to defend himself as best he could.

Now Donald had no army big enough to take on his uncle and cousins in open warfare so he employed a bit of guerrilla tactics. With a small band of men he launched a surprise night attack on his uncle and cousins which proved highly successful. The cousins were killed and so were a lot of their men. The uncle was left without any heirs.

John Mackay heard of his brother's success and rushed back and the victory turned into a rout. Together, they drove everybody out of Strathnaver who had in any way shown support for their uncle. He, meanwhile, had gone back to the Earl of Caithness, but there found the doors firmly shut in his face.

So the uncle, with nowhere left to go, threw himself on the mercy and generosity of his nephews, asking that they only provided him with a small pension to keep him from poverty during the remainder of his life.

It proved a bad move for Uncle Neil, for his nephews were in no mood to forgive. They ordered their uncle's execution and, no doubt with a grim sense of satisfaction, watched as he was beheaded by his foster brother! Now John Mackay, with success under his belt and his appetite for conquest whetted, looked north for further opportunities, and one came in 1517 when the Earl of Sutherland was in Edinburgh on a spot of business.

The fact his father had been a trusted friend of the Earl of Sutherland made no difference. John got his men together and, with the help of some local clans, launched an invasion of Sutherland, burning and looting everything in sight.

Although the Earl was away, the Countess was still at home and she contacted her brother, Alexander Sutherland, persuading him to counter the threat. Assisted mainly by a John Murray of Aberscors and the chief of the Clan Gunn, Alexander formed an army and went searching for John and Donald Mackay.

The two sides met at a place called Torran-Dubh, near Rogart. The two Mackay brothers had command of a large number of men - many of whom had been attracted by the possibility of the plunder on offer. But, although outnumbered, the men of Sutherland made themselves ready for the coming attack.

It was a long, vicious, bloody battle with the outcome for much of the time uncertain. But eventually the Sutherland men seemed to gain the upper hand. However, picking his best men, and leaving the rest of the army under the command of his brother, to act as a reserve, John Mackay led one final and desperate attack, with the clan chiefs on both sides encouraging their men to fight for the honour of their clan.

The slaughter was terrific, but the gamble failed and John Mackay almost cut off, barely escaped with his life. When brother Donald realised the danger now threatening, as the Sutherland army turned their attention in his direction, he fled along with his men. But they were pursued by John Murray and the chief of the Clan Gunn, until darkness called a halt to the whole bloody affair. The number of dead among the Sutherland men proved small in comparison to the hundreds slain on the other side.

But shortly after the battle there was another, smaller encounter, at Drummoy, in Sutherland, when the chief of Clan Gunn met up with one George Keith of Aikregell, who was travelling from Inverugie to Caithness. George Keith was slaughtered along with his son and some 12 followers. The clan chief had finally avenged the death of his father's father in the chapel of St Tayr so many years before.

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