Lorn

Lorn, the Stewarts of Athole, and the Stewarts of Balquhidder, from one or other of which all the rest have been derived. How the Stewarts of Lorn acquired that district is told in our account of clan Macdougall. The Stewarts of Lorn were descended from a natural son of John Stewart, the last Lord of Lorn, who, with the assistance of the MacLarens, retained forcible possession of part of his father’s estates. From this family sprang the Stewarts of Appin, in Argyleshire, who, with the Athole branches, were considered in the Highlands as forming the clan Stewart. The badge of the original Stewarts was the oak, and of the royal Stuarts, the thistle.

In the end of the fifteenth century, the Stewarts of Appin were vassals of the Earl of Argyll in his lordship of Lorn. In 1493 the name of the chief was Dougal Stewart. He was the natural son of John Stewart, the last Lord of Lorn, and Isabella, eldest daughter of the first Earl of Argyll. The assassination of Campbell of Calder, guardian of the young Earl of Argyll, in February 1592, caused a feud between the Stewarts of Appin and the Campbells, the effects of which were long felt. During the civil wars, the Stewarts of Appin ranged themselves under the banners of Montrose, and at the battle of Inverlochy, 2d February 1645, rendered that chivalrous nobleman good service. They and the cause which they upheld were opposed by the Campbells, who possessed the north side of the same parish, a small rivulet, called Con Ruagh, or red bog, from the rough swamp through which it ran, being the dividing line of their lands.

The Stewarts of Appin under their chief, Robert Stewart, engaged in the rebellion of 1715, when they brought 400 men into the field. They were also “out” in 1745, under Stewart of Ardshiel, 300 strong. Some lands in Appin were forfeited on the latter occasion, but were afterwards restored. The principal family is extinct, and their estate has passed to others, chiefly to a family of the name of Downie. There are still, however, many branches of this tribe remaining in Appin. The chief cadets are the families of Ardshiel, Invernahyle, Auchnacrone, Fasnacloich, and Balachulish.

Between the Stewarts of Invernahyle and the Campbells of Dunstaffnage there existed a bitter feud, and about the beginning of the sixteenth century, the former family were all cut off but one child, the infant son of Stewart of Invernahyle, by the chief of Dunstaffnage, called Cailein Uaine, “Green Colin.” The boy’s nurse fled with him to Ardnamurchan, where her husband, the blacksmith of the district, resided. The latter brought him up to his own trade, and at sixteen years of age he could wield two forehammers at once, one in each hand, on the anvil, which acquired for him the name of Domhnull nan ord, “Donald of the hammers.” Having made a two-edged sword for him, his foster-father, on presenting it, told him of his birth and lineage, and of the event which was the cause of his being brought to Ardnamurchan. Burning with a desire for vengeance, Donald set off with twelve of his companions, for each of whom, at a smithy at Corpach in Lochaber, he forged a two-edged sword. He then proceeded direct to Dunstaffnage, where he slew Green Colin and fifteen of his retainers. Having recovered his inheritance, he ever after proved himself “the unconquered foe of the Campbell.” The chief of the Stewarts of Appin being, at the time, a minor, Donald of the hammers was appointed tutor of the clan. He commanded the Stewarts of Appin at the battle of Pinkie in 1547, and on their return homewards from that disastrous field, in a famishing condition, they found in a house at the church of Port of Menteith, some fowls roasting for a marriage party. These they took from the spit, and greedily devoured. They then proceeded on their way. The Earl of Menteith, one of the marriage guests, on being apprised of the circumstance, pursued them, and came up with them at a place called Tobernareal. To a taunt from one of the earl’s attendants, one of the Stewarts replied by an arrow through the heart. In the conflict that ensued, the earl fell by the ponderous arm of Donald of the hammers, and nearly all his followers were killed.

The Stewarts of Athole consist almost entirely of the descendants, by his five illegitimate sons, of Sir Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, called, from his ferocity, “The wolf of Badenoch,” the fourth son of Robert II., by his first wife, Elizabeth More. One of his natural sons, Duncan Stewart, whose disposition was as ferocious as his father’s, at the head of a vast number of wild Catherans, armed only with the sword and target, descended from the range of hills which divides the counties of Aberdeen and Forfar, and began to devastate the country and murder the inhabitants. Sir Walter Ogilvy, sheriff of Angus, Sir Patrick Gray, and Sir David Lindsay of Glenesk, immediately collected a force to repel them, and a desperate conflict took place at Gasklune, near the water of Isla, in which the former were overpowered, and most of them slain.

James Stewart, another of the Wolf of Badenoch’s natural sons, was the ancestor of the family of Stewart of Garth, from which proceed almost all the other Athole Stewarts. The Garth family became extinct in the direct line, by the death of General David Stewart, author of “Sketches of the Highlanders.” The possessions of the Athole Stewarts lay mainly on the north side of Loch Tay.

The Balquhidder Stewarts derive their origin from illegitimate branches of the Albany family.

The Stewarts or Steuarts of Grandtully, Perthshire, are descended from James Stewart of Pierston and Warwickhill, Ayrshire, who fell at Halidon Hill in 1333, fourth son of Sir John Stewart of Bonkill, son of Alexander, fourth lord-high-steward of Scotland, who died in 1283.

James Stewart’s son was Sir Robert Stewart of Shambothy and Innermeath, whose son, Sir John Stewart, was the first of the Stewarts of Lorn. The fourth son of the latter, Alexander Stewart, was ancestor of the Stewarts of Grandtully. “On the resignation of his father, Sir John (apparently the first Stewart of Grandtully), he received a charter from Archibald, Earl of Douglas, of the lands of Grandtully, Kyltilich, and Aberfeldy, 30th March 1414. He married Margaret, sister of John Hay (?) of Tulliebodie.”

Of this family was Thomas Stewart of Balcaskie, Fifeshire, a lord of session, created a baronet of Nova Scotia, June 2, 1683. He was cousin, through his father, of John Stewart, thirteenth of Grandtully, who died without issue in 1720, and was succeeded by Sir Thomas’s son, Sir George Stewart, who also died without issue. He was succeeded by his brother, Sir John Stewart, third baronet, an officer of rank in the army, who married, 1st, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir James Mackenzie of Royston, and had by her an only surviving son, Sir John, fourth baronet; 2dly, Lady Jane Douglas, only daughter of James, Marquis of Douglas, and his son, by her, Archibald Stewart, after a protracted litigation, succeeded to the immense estates of his uncle, the last Duke of Douglas, and assuming that name, was created a peer of the United Kingdom, by the title of Baron Douglas. Sir John Stewart married, 3dly, Helen, a daughter of the fourth Lord Elibank, without issue. He died in 1764.

His son, Sir John, fourth baronet, died in 1797.

Sir John’s eldest son, Sir George, fifth baronet, married Catherine, eldest daughter of John Drummond, Esq. of Logie Almond, and died in 1827, leaving five sons and two daughters.

The eldest son, Sir John, sixth baronet, died without issue, May 20, 1838.

His brother, Sir William Drummond Steuart, born December 26, 1795, succeeded as seventh baronet. He married in 1830, and had a son William George, captain 93d Highlanders, born in February 1831, and died October 1868. Sir William died April 28, 1871, and was succeeded by his youngest brother Archibald Douglas, born August 29, 1807.

The Stewarts of Drumin, Banffshire, now Belladrum, Inverness-shire, trace their descent from Sir Walter Stewart of Strathaven, knighted for his services at the battle of Harlaw in 1411, one of the illegitimate sons of the Wolf of Badenoch, and consequently of royal blood.

The Stewarts of Ardvoirlich, Perthshire, are descended from James Stewart, called James the Gross, fourth and only surviving son of Murdoch, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, beheaded in 1425. On the ruin of his family he fled to Ireland, where, by a lady of the name of Macdonald, he had seven sons and one daughter. James II. created Andrew, the eldest son, Lord Avandale.

James, the third son, ancestor of the Stewarts of Ardvoirlich, married Annabel, daughter of Buchanan of that ilk.

His son, William Stewart, who succeeded him, married Mariota, daughter of Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy, and had several children. From one of his younger sons, John, the family of Stewart of Glenbuckie, and from another, that of Stewart of Gartnaferaran, both in Perthshire, were descended.

His eldest son, Walter Stewart, succeeded his father, and married Euphemia, daughter of James Reddoch of Cultobraggan, comptroller of the household of James IV.

His son, Alexander Stewart of Ardvoirlich, married Margaret, daughter of Drummond of Drummond Erinoch, and had two sons, James, his successor, and John, ancestor of the Perthshire families of Stewart of Annat, Stewart of Ballachallan, and Stewart of Craigtoun.

The family of Steuart of Dalguise, Perthshire, are descended from Sir John Stewart of Arntullie and Cardneys, also designed of Dowallie, the youngest natural son of King Robert II. of Scotland, by Marion or Mariota de Cardney, daughter of John de Cardney of that ilk, sister of Robert Cardney, bishop of Dunkeld from 1396 to 1436.

The Steuarts of Ballechin, in the same county, are descended from Sir John Stewart, an illegitimate son of King James II. of Scotland. Having purchased the lands of Sticks in Glenquaich from Patrick Cardney of that ilk, he got a charter of those lands from King James III., dated in December 1486. The family afterwards acquired the lands of Ballechin.

There are many other Stewart families throughout Scotland, but as we are concerned only with these which can be considered Highland, it would be beyond our province to notice any more. The spelling of this name seems very capricious: the royal spelling is Stuart, while most families spell it Stewart, and a few Steuart and Steuard. We have endeavoured always to give the spelling adhered to by the various families whom we have noticed.