Battle - A Highlander's Perspective

I recently spent a useful morning reading some of the poetry of Iain Lom MacDonald who died in 1710. 

Iain Lom was a very accomplished poet who witnessed the Battle of Inverlochy. He was an intimate of both Alasdair Mac Colla and Montrose.   

His artistic reputation among the Gael of his time cannot be over stated. Even his sworn enemy the Earl of Argyle, Chief of Clan Campbell, did not hesitate to extend his hospitality when Iain Lom unexpectedly dropped by.  This, we can note, was at a time when Argyle was actively offering a reward for the poet's head.  Iain Lom it seems had come to collect it.

Clan Donald fought and Iain Lom was there with them to observe, celebrate and preserve their prowess in battle. It was pretty much part of his job.   He has things to tell us about how the actual fighting was conducted that I want to share with you.

In writing this piece I am hugely indebted to Ann M McKenzie and her 1955 thesis Iain Lom: text, translation, variant readings and commentary and to the University of Aberdeen for kindly making it available. This, so far as I know, is the only complete edition of Iain Lom’s work.  It was published as a book in 1964.

We are going to look at the Battle of Inverlochy and specifically how Highlanders fought man to man that day. The following translated extracts are from Iain Lom’s Lá inbhir Lochaidh (The Day of Inverlochy). 

Keep in mind that Iain Lom actually watched the battle and walked the ground immediately afterwards.  He shows us the face of battle in his composition.  

Before the onset Alasdair offered Iain Lom an honourable place in the battle line beside him.  Iain Lom declined saying, here I transliterate, " It was for Alasdair to fight and Iain to write".  He added that should he fall in the fray their would be no victory song.  That tells us  the fight was expected to be fierce and that, like the rest of his class, Iain was trained to arms.  We should therefore take his descriptions of fighting very seriously.  He knew first hand about fighting.

The combatants were Clan Campbell, whose array included a regiment of pike and shot, and Montrose’s Royalist Army of Highlanders and Irish regulars.

Sword blows are a prominent feature of  Lá inbhir Lochaidh and we are told in verse 11

“Numerous were the blue fluted well balanced swords that were wielded in the hands of Clan Donald.”

Verse 8 notes the foe “had their heads battered with sword blows.”

Verse 10 notes “Whoever should climb Thom na h-Aire (would find there) many a freshly hacked limb.”

Verse 11 “You (Alasdair) engaged in a hot foray round Lochaidh, smiting them on the noses.”

Verse 12. “It was when knives were bared that the great work of blood-letting came to a height; the Campbells were hamstrung with sinews severed,”

We learn then, that Highland swordsmen routinely struck for the head and face and that hacking off a limb was considered an acceptable alternative stroke. At very close quarters the long knife carried in the left hand was used to hamstring opponents.

What of the pike and shot regulars?  The poet has two things to say:

Verse 7. “Many a warrior with helmet and pike and slender erect musket, lay stretched at Inverlochy”.

Verse 20 “you routed the sallow skinned Lowlanders” The latter, sallow skinned or otherwise, were Argyle’s pike and shot armed regulars.

We can note that, as usual, pike armed men do not seem to have caused the charging Highlanders any particular difficulty. 

I want to return to Iain Lom’s work in future posts on the theme of Montrose and the Covenanters.   

I hope you have enjoyed what we have had so far.  

Should you be curious about Iain Lom's work you can hear a modern rendition of the marching song he composed for Alasdair's Irish soldiers here.  Back then it echoed across Scotland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZe9N1vNGh0