Clan Sutherland
Clan Sutherland is a Highland Scottish
clan whose traditional territory is located in the region of Sutherland
in northern Scotland and was for a time
one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Clan seat is in Dunrobin
Castle, Sutherland. In 1493
the Chieftenship of the Clan was given to the previous Chief's, daughter's
husband Adam Gordon,
therefore Clan Sutherland have close associations with Clan
Gordon.
Origin of the Name
Clan Battles and Conflicts
Clan map showing Clan Sutherland territory
- Battle of Dornoch 1150c; The Sutherland forbear was Freskin de Moravia, whose father was probably a Flemish noble named Ollec with lands in Morayshire and elsewhere ("de Moravia" being "of Moray"). He was given a commission by King David I to gather the Sutherland Gaels together and clear the Norsemen from the area, and he received Strabrock in West Lothian and Duffus in Moray from King David I. Some hold that he was therefore probably the hero of the clan legend about the killing of the last Norseman. The crucial battle took place near Dornoch where the Norse chief had gathered his men in a desperate attempt to stop the Scottish advance. The fight at first went the Norsemen's way when they penetrated the Scot's formation and the Sutherland chief was injured. As the chief lay wounded though, he spotted a Norse general coming up to support the attack. Finding a horseshoe at hand, he threw it with all of his might striking the Norseman squarely in the forehead, killing him, and turning the whole battle around. By the end of the day, all of the Norseman had been killed or captured.
- Battle of John o' Groats; Hugh Freskin Sutherland is said to have
strengthened the family's royal favor by riding the north of a ferocious band
of robbers lead by Harold Chisholm.
Among the crimes, a number of Sutherland churchmen were tortured by nailing
horseshoes to their feet and making them dance to entertain the followers
before putting them savagely to death. On hearing of this outrage, King William
the Lion ordered Hugh of Sutherland to pursue Chisolm to the death and a great
fight ensued near John o' Groats. All of the robbers were either killed or
captured. Harold Chisolm and the other leaders were given a punishment to
fit the crime, horse shoeing and hanging. The rest were gelded to prevent
any offspring from men who were so detestable. This seems to have been a frequent
punishment of the time. In 1198 an entire sept of the Sinclairs
were castrated for the killing of the Bishop of Caithness.
- Rebellion of the Sinclairs 1222; The trouble was over tithes imposed by
the Bishop of Caithness whose seat was at Dornoch. The Clan
Sinclair Earls of Caithness had long resented the fact that the bishopric
was under Sutherland control and decided to exploit the discontent over tithes,
to get rid of the bishop and have the seat moved. There was soon a riot, said
to be incited by Sinclair gold. The unfortunate bishop was roasted alive and
his cathedral was set on fire. The rioters then headed north to join up with
their Sinclair allies. Once again the Lord of Sutherland was given responsibility
by the crown for restoring law and order, and for punishing Sinclair for his
instigation of the incident. The Sutherland Clan force was gathered
and the far northeast was laid waste in a campaign of revenge and repression.
Wick and Thorso were burned and the Sinclair stronghold razed to the ground.
Eighty men were tried at a summer court session at Golspie and there was strict
punishment for the rioters. Four of the ringleaders were roasted and then
fed to the town dogs for good measure.
Scottish Wars of Independence
- Earl Kenneth Sutherland led the Clan at the Battle
of Halidon Hill (1333), part of the Scotish wars of Independence.
Clan Battles (continued)
- William 5th Earl of Sutherland, whose wife was the daughter of Robert the
Bruce and sister of King David II of Scotland, led the clan at Kilblene where
he participated in the siege of Cupar Castle Fife. Along with the Earl of
March took foray into England.
- Battle of Neville's Cross 1346; William arl of Sutherland accompanied King
David II of Scotland into England where both were captured at the battle of
Nevill's Cross by Durham. They remained in prison for over ten years before
being released. John, the son of the Earl and Princess Margaret, was designated
the heir to the Throne over Robert Stewart,
who eventually became King Robert II in 1371
- Raid of Dornoch 1372; The habitual enemies of Clan Sutherland were the Clan
Sinclair of Caithness, Clan Mackay
and the Clan McLeod to the west
of Sutherland. The long dispute with the MacKays first came to a head in 1372,
when Nicholas Sutherland of Duffus, head of one of the junior branches, murdered
Mackay and his heir in their beds at Dingwold Castle where they had met in
an attempt to patch up the feud. Much bloodshed followed, including a retaliatory
raid on Dornoch. The cathedral was once again set on fire and many Sutherland
men were hanged in the town square. After this, the feud quieted down as both
sides were called away to fight against the English.
- Battle of Strathnaver 1407; The Earlof Sutherland was a leader of the Scots
invading into the west of England in 1388. He married Margaret Stewart, daughter
of Alexander, Earl of Buchan, a younger son of King Robert II. During his
long chief-ship, there was a temporary alliance with the Clan
MacKay against the Clan McLeod
who had invaded Strathnaver in 1407 on rumors that MacKay was mistreating
his wife, a MacLeod heiress. Since both Sutherland and MacKay country were
laid waste, the old rivals joined forces to pursue the MacLeods, catching
them somewhere near Loch Shin where the invaders were killed except for the
last man who escaped his pursuers by throwing away his sword and targe and
out sprinting his pursuers over the hills. This day became known as "The Great
Slaughter" and gave the Sutherlands the upper hand in dominating their local
clan rivals.
- The Battle of Skibdo and Strathfleet around 1480; MacDonald
of the Isles, accompanied by about five or six hundred of his clan came into
Sutherland and encamped hard by the Castle
of Skibo, whereupon Neil Murray
(son or grandson to Angus Murray, slain at Druimnacoub) was sent by John,
Earl of Sutherland, to resist them, in case they did harm the inhabitants.
Neil Murray beleiving that the MacDonalds would go about spoiling the country
attacked the MacDonalds by Skibo, and killed one of their chieftains, called
Donald Dow MacDonald along with fifty others. Macdonald, with the rest of
his company, escaped back into their own country. Shortly thereafter another
company of Macdonald's came to Strathfleet in Sutherland, and spoiled that
part of the country, in revenge for the death of their chieften. However Robert
Sutherland (John, Earl of Sutherland's brother), assembled an army and attacked
them upon the sands of Strathfleet. After a sharp and cruel skirmish, Macdonald's
men were defeated.
- 1517 - Battle of Torran Dubh; Clan Sutherland defeat Clan
MacKay. The Clan Sutherland encounter John Mackay and his company at a
place called Torran Dubh, beside Rogart, in Strathfleet, where there ensued
a fierce and cruel conflict.
- 1542 - Chief Donald Mackay of Strathnaver decided to invade and molest the
lands of Clan Sutherland. He burned the village of Knockartoll and stole many
goods from Strathbrora. The Clan Sutherland and Clan
Murray led by Hutcheon Murray of Abirscors with Gilbert Gordon of Garty
decided to attack the MacKays. They attacked the MacKays at a place called
Ailtan-Beath. After the battle the MacKays fled and much of the stolen booty
was recoverd. Donald MacKay was captured and imprisoned in Foulis
Castle, Ross-shire by commandment of the Queen Regent.
- Battle near Wick 1588; Earl of Sutherland Alexander Gordon divorced his
obnoxious Sinclair wife in 1573. He waged all out war with her father and
Clan Sinclair before
gaining a decisive victory outside Wick in 1588, when more than a hundred
Sinclair clansmen were killed in a pitched battle on the seashore. Earl Alexander
later married the divorced wife of the Earl of Bothwell, third husband to
Mary Queen of Scots.
- Battle
of Carbisdale (1650); During the Civil War Clan Sutherland along with
Clan Munro and Clan
Ross joined forces with the Scottish Argyll Government who supported Cromwell
to fight against the Marquess
of Montrose and his Royalist Army of forieners. The Royalist Army led
by Scotsman James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was mainly made up of soldiers
from Denmark and Germany. The Royalists were defeated by the Scottish Argyll
Government forces. The Marquess
of Montrose escaped the battle but due to wounds and ill health gave himself
in to Macleod of Assynt who
in turn handed him in to the government. He was brought a prisoner to Edinburgh,
and on 20 May sentenced to death by the
parliament. He was hanged on the 21st,
with Wishart's laudatory
biography of him put round his neck. Shortly after Montroses death the Scottish
Argyll Government switched sides and became Royalists too.
Joining with Clan Gordon
In 1493, John Sutherland the 9th chief, Earl of Sutherland, was taken with
his father at a young age to King James IV. He succeeded his father as ward
of the Crown in 1508, the Earldom being administered by Andrew Stewart, Bishop
of Caithness. At Perth in 1514, the 9th Earl was pronounced legally incapable
and confined as his father was. In the question of his successor, the Earl declared
that his sister Elizabeth and her husband the Hon. Adam Gordon were his nearest
heirs. His death a month later in 1514 marked the end of the Freskin line of
Earls of Sutherland. The title was inherited by his sister Elizabeth Gordon
who, after a protracted lawsuit and some bloodshed, became Countess of Sutherland
in her own right. From that time until 1766, the Sutherland inheritance was
held by the Gordon family who did not adopt the name of Sutherland until the
early 18th century.
In Sir Robert Gordon's time during the 17th century the Clan Sutherland
began to acquire the reputation for enthusiastic and pious Protestantism. This
is probably what made the Earls begin to distance themselves from their Gordon
cousins who were Catholics and later Jacobites. Sir Robert's nephew, for example,
was known as the Covenanting Earl and the clan was involved with the troubles
through the 17th and 18th centuries but was supportive of the British Crown.
Jacobite Uprisings
The main of Clan Sutherland supported the British during the Jacobite uprisings
in 1745-1746 however the Clan
Gordon fought as Jacobites.
Unfortunatly when the Jacobite Uprisings began in 1745 the Jacobites stormed
Clan Sutherlands' Dunrobin
Castle without warning. The Earl narrowly escaped them through a back door.
He sailed for Aberdeen where he joined
the Duke of Cumberland's
army.
The redeaming parts of the Jacobite Uprising came for Clan Sutherland when
they defeated a Jacobite force under the Earl
of Cromartie as it made its way to join Prince Charlie at Culloden. Then
there was the final victory over the Jacobites at the Battle
of Culloden itself in 1746.
Gaelic Name, Motto, Slogan,
- Gailic Names: Suithearlarach (Singular) & Na Suithearlaraichean
(Collective)
- Motto: "Sans Peur" (French
for "Without Fear")
- Slogan: "Ceann na Drochaide Bige!" (Gaelic
for "The Head of the Little Bridge!")
Pipe Music, Crest, Plant Badge
- Pipe Music: "The Earl of Sutherland's March"
- Crest: A cat-a-mountain sejant rampant Proper
- Plant Badge: Cotton Sedge
Tartans
- Old Sutherland (Ancient)
- Old Sutherland (Dress)
- Old Sutherland (Modern)
- Old Sutherland (Muted)
- Old Sutherland (Weathered)
- Sutherland (Modern)
Animal Symbol & Arms
Blason Comtes de Sutherland
- Animal Symbol: Cat
- Arms: Gules, three mullets Or, on a bordure Or a Royal tressure Gul
Chief
- Elizabeth Millicent, Countess of Sutherland
Branches
- Sutherland of Forse
- Sutherland of Sutherland
Septs of Clan Sutherland
- Cheyne
- Chiene
- Clyne
- Duffes
- Duffus
- Federith
- Gray
- Grey
- Keith
- Mouat
- Mowat(t)
- Murray
- Norman
- Oliphant
- O'May
Allied Clans
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