From: PAPERS RELATING TO KINTYRE, pp. 67-85. INTRODUCTORY NOTE From its march with Knapdale at Tarbert to its southern extremity the Mull, the peninsula of Kintyre, the Epidium Promontorium of ancient writers, is some forty miles long and, on an average, some eight miles broad. In the fifth century it was seized by the Dalriad Scots from Ireland, and later on it fell into the hands of the northern heathen who, under one name or another, were the pest of Scotland till their power was finally destroyed by Alexander III. Long before this, when Malcolm IIT made an agreement with Magnus Barefoot under which the latter vas to retain possession of all the isles that could be circumnavigated, it may be x nembered that the Norse king was dravn in his galley over the narrow neck of land that separates Hast and West Lochs Tarbert, with the result that not merely did Kintyre remain for the time in the hands of Magnus, but so late as the seventeenth century as Mr. Gregory points out! it was still classed as one of the South Isles. Early in the twelfth century Somerland seems to have cleared the Northmen out of Kintyre and to have incorporated the peninsula with his dominions. And this possibly explains how David I was able in 1128 to grant to the canons of Holyrood one half of his tithe of the Kane, pleas, and gains of the Crown from Kentyr and Errogeill,” and to the monks of Dunfermline a few years later the half of his tithe from Ergaithel and Kentir.? On Somerled's death Kintyre passed to his son Reginald who, in a charter to the Abbey of Saddel, designed himself Rex tnsularum dominus de Ergile et Kyntyre,* and through him to his descendants the Lords of Yla and Kintyre. By the middle of the thirteenth century Kintyre appears as one of the rural deaneries of the diocese of Argyll: and among the sherritr- doms erected by King John Balliol in 1292 is that of Kintyre, which comprised Bute and part of Cowal as well as the peninsula itself. From the fact that King Robert I granted charters of lands in Kintyre to various of his support~ ers, it would seem that the lordship must at that time have been in the hands of the Crow; and after sundry grants and forfeitures, Kintyre along with half of Knapdale was in the year 1376 settled by Robert 11 on John of Yla and his wife Margaret, the king's daughter, and their heirs. Donald, the -15-eldest son of this marriage, succeeded his father as Lord of the Isles, while John the Tanister, his younger brother, received Yla and Kintyre hold under him, From this John Mor Tanister, who married Marjorie B: ts heiress of the Glens of Antrim, sprang the family known as Clan Ian Mhor of Yle, or Clan Donald of the South, of which the Chief was styled Macdonald of Dunyveg and the Glen: 2 Tn due time the lordship descended to Donald's grandson, John, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, who was forfeited in 1475, and when he was restored next year the Earldom of Ross and the Lordships of Kintyre and Knapdale were expressly excluded from the restitution,® and remained in the hands of the Crown. In 1494 James IV spent some time in Kintyre, and he had hardly taken his departure when Dunaverty, where he had left a garrison, was attacked and captured and its governor hanged by Sir John Macdonald of Dunyveg, This out break led to serious trouble for that family, who had to take refuge in their Trish possessions. Shortly thereafter the lordship, subject of course to the rights of various va: als such as the Glan Ranaldbane or Macdonalds of Largic, was placed in the hands of the Earl of Argyll as chanberlain, whose accounts for the three years ending 28th July 1505, as well as a rental of the same date giving the names of the individual holdings and tenants, are still preserved.’ Tt was also divided into two districts, North and South Kintyre, and various Brants of lands and offices ~ permanent and temporary ~ many of them probably being only confirmations of existing rights, were made from time to time. In 1540 the Lordship of the Isles with "the twa Kintyris with the castell is partening thereto and thare pretinents" was by Act of Parliament annexed 8 inalienably to the Crown,” and In 1545 the services, specialiter in restitentia Veterum Anglie inimicorum of James Macdonald of Dunyveg and the Glens, whose father had become reconciled to the Crown, were rewarded by a grant of the extensive barony of Bar in North Kintyre, which on his death in 1565 pa sed to his son Angus, who with his son © James were prominent in the troubles of their times. In 1596 it was found necessary to arrange for an expedition to the Isles under Sir William Stewart of Houston, Conmendator of Pittenweem, who received @ conmission of Lieutenancy and Justiciary. Proceeding to Kintyre the Licu- fenant on 1st November 1596 held a court at which Angus Macdonald and others made their personal submission. The Record of thi court, which is preserved -16-in W. M. General Register House, is the first of the documents here printed, and, as will be seen, it contains a list of the tenants of Kintyre, of the lands occupied by them individually, and of the waste and unoccupied Lands A dispute between Angus Macdonald and his son Sir James resulted in the latter seizing the estates and deposing his father from the Chiefship, and following thereon he made certain proposals to the Government, with the object of him self and his people finally settling down peacefully and accepting the royal authority. These proposals were approved by the Privy Council, but through the machinations of Argyll and Campbell of Calder, as Mr. Gregory thinks, they came to nothing. Sir James, being seized by his father towards the end of 1603, was handed over to Argyll and then placed in Edinburgh Castle, where he was detained for many years In 1605 the Comptroller, David Murray, Lord Seone, proceeded to Kintyre where on 3rd September he held a court similar to that held by Sir William Stewart nine years before. The Record of this court is the second of the documents printed. As Nr. Gregory points out,!° the waste lands had consider~ ably increased. In 1596, out of 139 merklands in North Kintyre, 86 1/2 were waste; and out of 205 merklands in South Kintyre, 45 were waste. Tn 1606, ow of 151 1/2 merklands in North Kintyre, 62 were waste; and out of 203 merklands in South Kintyre, 51 were waste. In September of chat year Angus Macdonald, who time and again had attempted to make an honorable settlement with regard to both Tla and Kintyre, submitted a final offer to the King, and this and the accompanying letter are also printed here. But again the hostile influence was too strong. And next year the Earl of Argyll, in implement of a contract dated 27th May 1607, obtained a feu charter dated 30th May 1607 of the lands of both North and South Kintyre, therein specified, which are said to have previously belonged to Angus M'Konnell of Dunyvaig, and to have been incorporated into the Lordship of Kintyre with Dunaverty as its chief messuage The inductive clause of this charter sets forth that the subjects of the grant had been for many years past possessed by unruly and barbarous persons destitute of the knowledge and fear of God, and of any reverence for the King or the laws of the realm, who maintained no civilisation among themselves! nor permitted the King's other subjects to trade with them save at the peril their lives and goods; and it concludes with a provision that none of the lands thereby granted shall be set or disponed "ad M'Laine nec M'Connell," er any on -17-