Keppoch murders

The Keppoch Murders is one of the stranger incidents in the history of Clan Donald, a large Scottish clan. In September 1663 Alexander, the thirteenth chief of the Macdonalds of Keppoch in Lochaber, and his brother, Ranald, were murdered at home by some of their own kinsmen.

The motive for this crime are still unclear, although it appears to have involved both a change of leadership and a change of direction.

One of us must Die

Alexander had been a minor at the time of his father's death in 1649. He and his brother had grown up among their kinsmen, the Macdonalds of Sleat in Skye. During this time Alasdair Buidhe, their uncle, had headed the clan as Tutor of Keppoch. Alexander finally took over himself in 1661, a development that was probably less than welcome to the older man.

Within a very short space of time Alexander seems to have made himself highly unpopular with everyone else in the clan. The details are uncertain, but it would appear that he was trying to bring some of the wilder elements under control by restricting casual raiding and cattle rustling, which many had come to regard as a right. The methods he used, however, were none too gentle. Alasdair Macdonald of Inverlair, one of the leading clan gentry, had caused his chief particular offence. In December 1661, with a band of sixty men, Alexander arrived at Inverlair and proceeded to devastate the place. Houses were pulled down, stock driven off and Macdonald of Inverlair and his people generally bullied. Alexander is reputed to have said to Inverlair that "one of them tuo must dye." Inverlair took the whole matter seriously enough to complain to the Privy Council in Edinburgh. When this proved ineffective he decided that he would act for the law. It was not he who was to be the one who would die.

Oath of the Dirks

Close to the house of Alasdair Buidhe, the former chief, Inverlair met up with a group of fellow conspirators. Buidhe kept himself out of this, though it is quite clear that he knew what was going on. Allan Dearg and Donald Gorm, his own sons, took part in the meeting, which was held on the Tutor's own lands. Inverlair and the rest swore on their dirks {a long dagger}, holier than a Bible oath for Highlanders, to murder their chief and his brother, at a spot known as "Torran nam Mionn"-the mound of the oaths. On Friday 25 September, probably only a day or two later, the murderers broke into Keppoch's house and stabbed the two brothers repeatedly. No sooner was this done than Alasdair Buidhe calmly assumed the leadership once more, while the murderers returned to their homes unmolested. There matters might have rested but for the efforts of one man-Iain Lom, the bard of Keppoch.

Iain Lom

Iain Lom was a singular individual, combining qualities normally associated with Biblical prophets and Greek furies. He appears to have been one of the first to discover the mangled bodies of the chief and his brother, as he testifies in "Murt na Ceapaich"-the Keppoch Murders;

"Early on Saturday, a short time ago calamity struck as"

"a blow, as I stood over the white bodies that were losing"

"blood beneath their cloaks; my hands were streaming with"

"blood after I had been staunching your wounds, and placing"

"you in the coffin is an office which has most weakened my strength."

"Many have been the murders committeed in the world"

"since Abel was killed by his brother, but this act was as"

"though Adam had been killed by him-when those impious"

"ones murdered the head of the household-but vengeance"

"will not be forgotten by the Holy Father or His Son"

"It is a matter of great reproach and dishonour to the"

"entire MacDonald clan if they delay to rouse themselves to"

"exact immediate vengeance. Honour and law demands"

"Unconditional annihilation of one who murders a"

"superior, a king, the head of a household or clan."

Alasdair Buidhe was not to be the instrument of that revenge. Soon Iain's relentless search for justice had alienated all in his own clan, forcing him to seek refuge in Kintail, perhaps in fear of his life;

"I am banished from Clachaig, I am without land"

"Or biggin, and the reason is not that I am behind with"

"the rent."

"I am banished from my native soil, and my land has"

"been seized by Soil Dunghill, who think they can establish"

"their claim to it."

"My property and my furniture are scattered to the"

"hillside, and I am like a hare between dogs, without"

"chance of escape into cornfield or hay."

"Because I am not a murderer, who would stab with"

"his dirk, as did the friends in the Big House."

Who Will Act?

Unable to obtain justice from his own people, Iain came to see Lord Macdonnell, the chief of Glengarry, who was widely known to consider himself as the head of all Clan Donald. But he refused to take any action which might upset Alasdair Buidhe, who had served alongside him during the Glencairn Rising, a Highland rebellion against Oliver Cromwell. The bard then turned to Sir James Macdonald of Sleat, the foster father of the murdered man. If Glengarry proved negligent, surely Sleat would act? But Sir James was no keener than Lord Macdonnell to interfere in the affairs of his Clan Donald kin.

Justice, however, had to be served in some way, especially as Iain Lom refused to shut up. This was a delicate matter, requiring great care. Alasdair Buidhe, it was clear to all, was the main beneficiary of the crime, both in the outcome and in his refusal to punish the perpetrators. However, an attack on him would be treated as an attack on the whole of Clan Donald of Keppoch. This matter, moreover, could never be brought to trial, as it might reveal some embarrassing facts. Iain Lom would have vengeance, not justice.

Well of the Heads

In July 1665 Sir James obtained the approval of the Privy Council to proceed against Alasdair Macdonald of Inverlair, as well as the sons of the Tutor and their accomplices. Under Archibald Macdonald, brother of the chief, Iain Lom guided a party of fifty Sleat Macdonalds to Lochaber. Inverlair was ready for them, having previously been denounced as a rebel by the Privy Council. Fighting from the cover of a log house, he and his kin put up a desperate defence, before being forced into the open after their hideout was set on fire. Inverlair and another six men were killed. Iain Lom promptly cut off their heads and carried his gruesome trophies away.

This whole pantomime was clearly carried out with the approval of Alasdair Buidhe, prepared to sacrifice Inverlair as a scapegoat. His two sons, just as guilty, were never apprehended. In tradition Iain Lom is said to have carried his heads to Glengarry, where, as a deliberate reproach to Lord Macdonnell, he washed them by the shores of Loch Oich, close to Invergarry Castle. This spot was ever after known as "Tobar nan Ceann"-the Well of the Heads. In 1812 Alasdair Ranaldson, then chief of Glengarry, erected a monument to this famous incident, which manages to be wrong in both detail and date. The heads, once washed, were sent on to Edinburgh, to be displayed on poles erected on the Gallows Hill of Leith, although only five appear to have completed the journey.

This bizarre tale has an interesting postscript. In the middle of the nineteenth century one Dr. Smith of Fort William, doubting the truth of the story, excavated the mound where Inverlair and his people were reputedly buried. He reported the discovery of seven headless skeletons. A further excavation was carried out in 1914: this time all the skeletons were missing.

References

* Campbell, A., "The Keppoch Murders," in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, vols. 39-40, 1942-50.
* "Orian Iain Lom. Songs of John MacDonald, Bard of Keppoch", ed. A. M. Mackenzie, 1964.
* "Register of the Privy Council of Scotland," variously edited, 1877-1933.