Clan Sutherland


Clan Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is the shire of Sutherland in the far north of Scotland. The chief of the clan was also the powerful Earl of Sutherland, however in the early 16th century this title passed through marriage to a younger son of the chief of Clan Gordon. The current chief is Alistair Sutherland who holds the title Earl of Sutherland.

History

Origins of the clan

The progenitor of the Clan Sutherland was a Flemish nobleman by the name of Freskin, who was also the progenitor of the Clan Murray. It has been claimed that Freskin was Pictish but it is much more likely that he was a Flemish knight, one of a ruthless group of warlords who were employed by the Norman kings to pacify their new realm after the Norman conquest of England. David I of Scotland who was brought up in the English court, employed such men to keep hold of the wilder parts of his kingdom and granted to Freskin lands in West Lothian. The ancient Pictish kingdom of Moray was also given to Freskin and this put an end to the remnants of that old royal house. In a series of astute political moves Freskin and his sons inter married with the old house of Moray to consolidate their power. Freskin's descendants were designated by the surname de Moravia. Freskin's grandson was Hugh de Moravia who was granted lands in Sutherland and was known as Lord de Sudrland. Hugh's younger brother, William, was progenitor of the Clan Murray. Hugh's eldest son was William de Moravia, 1st Earl of Sutherland. The place name and clan name of "Sutherland" came from it being the 'land to the south' of the Norse Earldom of Orkney and Caithness. Although the senior line of chiefs who were the Earls of Sutherland had the surname 'de Moravia', they often used the territorial surname 'Sutherland' and the younger sons of the family also took the surname 'Sutherland', thus creating the cadet branches of the Clan Sutherland.

Wars of Scottish Independence

During the Wars of Scottish Independence, chief William de Moravia, 3rd Earl of Sutherland fought at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, where the English army was defeated. Kenneth de Moravia, 4th Earl of Sutherland was killed at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333.
William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland, whose wife was Margaret, the daughter of Robert the Bruce and sister of David II of Scotland, led the clan at Kilblene where he participated in the siege of Cupar Castle Fife. William, Earl of Sutherland accompanied King David II of Scotland into England where both were captured at the Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346, 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.

14th-century clan conflicts

The habitual enemies of Clan Sutherland were the Clan Sinclair of Caithness and the Clan Mackay and Clan McLeod to the west of Sutherland. A feud with the Mackays came to a head when Nicholas Sutherland of Duffus, head of one of the junior branches, murdered the chief of the Clan Mackay and his heir at Dingwall Castle, where they had met in an attempt to patch up the feud. A retaliatory raid by the Mackays on Dornoch took place, where the cathedral was set on fire and many Sutherland men were hanged in the town square. William, 5th Earl of Sutherland was killed by the Mackays in 1370 in feud which lasted for the next four centuries. In 1388 the Earl of Sutherland was a leader of the Scots invading into the west of England. He married Margaret Stewart, daughter of Alexander, Earl of Buchan, a younger son of King Robert II of Scotland.

15th century and clan conflicts

The Battle of Drumnacoub was fought in 1431 where Angus Du Mackay, chief of Clan Mackay defeated Angus Murray and the Sutherlanders on the slopes of the mountain Ben Loyal near Tongue.
The Battle of Skibo and Strathfleet was fought in 1480 where John MacDonald of Islay, Earl of Ross invaded Sutherland and was defeated by the Clan Sutherland and the Murrays of Aberscross.
According to 17th-century historian Sir Robert Gordon, the Clan Sutherland joined the Clan Mackay in their victory over the Clan Ross at the Battle of Aldy Charrish in 1487. However, 19th - 20th-century historian Angus Mackay disputes the Sutherland's presence at the battle stating that it would be unlikely that the Earl of Sutherland at the time would have assisted against the Rosses as he was married to a daughter of the Ross chief of Balnagowan, and also that the feudal superiority of the Sutherlands over the Mackays "nowhere existed save in his own fertile imagination".

16th century and clan conflicts

William Sutherland, 4th Laird of Duffus was killed fighting against the English at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.
In 1517 Elizabeth de Moravia, 10th Countess of Sutherland married Adam Gordon, younger son of Gordon of Huntly. Their son was Alexander Gordon, Master of Sutherland who would become the legal heir to the Earldom of Sutherland and overall chiefship of the Clan Sutherland. According to Sir Robert Gordon, who himself was a son of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, in the same year the Mackays rose up against the Gordons who had taken power in Sutherland which resulted in the Battle of Torran Dubh, where the Mackays were defeated. Sir Robert Gordon also states that at the battle, the Sutherland force had been led by Alexander Sutherland, brother of Elizabeth, 10th Countess of Sutherland. However, this version of events is disputed by both historian Angus Mackay and historian Sir William Fraser, who state that it can be proved that Alexander Sutherland was in prison in 1517 when the battle is supposed to have taken place. Whatever the truth, the following year in 1518 or 1519, Alexander Sutherland claimed the Earldom of Sutherland for himself and rose up against his sister Elizabeth, 10th Countess of Sutherland and her husband Adam Gordon, but he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Alltachuilain.
According to the book Conflicts of the Clans which was published in 1764, in 1542 the Battle of Alltan-Beath took place where the Clan Mackay were defeated by the Clan Sutherland. According to historian Sir Robert Gordon, in 1542, chief Donald Mackay, 11th of Strathnaver was captured by the Gordon Earls of Sutherland and Huntly, and imprisoned in Foulis Castle. However, this is disputed by historian Angus Mackay.
In 1545 at Dingwall, the Earl of Sutherland entered into a bond of manrent with John Mackenzie of Kintail for mutual defense against all enemies, reserving only their allegiance to the youthful Mary, Queen of Scots.
In 1547 John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland led the clan against the English army at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.
In 1555 the Battle of Garbharry was fought, which was the last battle between the Clan Mackay and the Clan Sutherland. In 1586 the Battle of Leckmelm took place where the Sutherlands, Mackays and MacLeods defeated the Clan Gunn.
In 1588 Castle Sinclair Girnigoe withstood a siege by the Earl of Sutherland and in 1590 George Sinclair, 5th Earl of Caithness, invaded Sutherland resulting in the Battle of Clynetradwell.

17th century and Civil War

In the 17th century the Clan Sutherland began to acquire the reputation for enthusiastic and pious Protestantism. This is probably what made the Gordon Earls of Sutherland begin to distance themselves from their Gordon Earl of Huntly cousins who were Catholics and later Jacobites. In 1645 John Gordon, 14th Earl of Sutherland led the clan against the royalists at the Battle of Auldearn but was defeated.
In 1650, the Clan Sutherland along with the Clan Munro and the Clan Ross joined forces with the Scottish Argyll Government to fight against James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose and his royalist army of foreigners, who they defeated at the Battle of Carbisdale.
In 1685, John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland, raised men of the Clan Sutherland to oppose Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll's expedition that was known as Argyll's Rising. The Earl of Sutherland also raised two regiments from the clan after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The second of which he was a Colonel in command in Flanders in 1694.

18th century and Jacobite risings

Jacobite rising of 1715

During the Jacobite rising of 1715, John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland who later resumed the surname Sutherland, called out his men to fight for George I of Great Britain. The Clan Sutherland garrisoned Inverness Castle against the Jacobites.

Jacobite rising of 1719

In 1719, a detachment of men from the Clan Sutherland fought for the British Government at the Battle of Glenshiel where they helped to defeat the Jacobites. The Earl and chief of Clan Sutherland had been of the surname Gordon ever since the early 16th century, however John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland resumed the surname of Sutherland and was officially recognized as chief of Clan Sutherland by the Court of the Lord Lyon in 1719. General Wade's report on the Highlands in 1724, estimated the clan strength at 1,000 men.

Jacobite rising of 1745

The Clan Sutherland also supported the British Government during the Jacobite rising of 1745. At the start of the rising William, 17th Earl of Sutherland and chief of Clan Sutherland reconciled with their ancient enemies, the Mackays, settling the ancient feud. In 1745 the fighting force of the Clan Sutherland was given as 2,000 men. During the rising, Jacobites under George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie occupied the Sutherland's Dunrobin Castle, and the Earl of Sutherland narrowly escaped them through a back door. He then sailed for Aberdeen where he joined the Duke of Cumberland's army. However, this same Jacobite force under the Earl of Cromartie was defeated by the Clan Sutherland militia, who formed an Independent Highland Company, in what became known as the Battle of Littleferry. However, despite all these efforts by the Earl of Sutherland to defeat the Jacobites, including his victory at Littleferry, he struggled to prove to the parliament in London that he had not had Jacobite sympathies.

Disputed chiefship

The chief of Clan Sutherland was the Earl of Sutherland. When William Sutherland, 18th Earl of Sutherland died in 1766 he left an only daughter, Elizabeth. This led to a legal battle over the succession to the title. Elizabeth's right to succeed as a woman was challenged firstly by George Sutherland of Forse, who was a direct male descendant of the original de Moravia/Sutherland Earls of Sutherland and secondly by Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun who was a direct male descendant of the later Gordon Earls of Sutherland. The case was heard by the House of Lords on 21 March 1771 and it decided in favour of Elizabeth. She married George Leveson-Gower, Marquess of Stafford who later became the first Duke of Sutherland in 1833. The Duke set up businesses on the coast and ruthlessly cleared his tenants off the land, abandoning the customary obligations of a Scottish clan chief. However, two tacksmen of the clan, the brothers Alexander and John Sutherland of Sciberscross, were opposed to the clearance of tenants in Sutherland. Alexander Sutherland of Sciberscross, an army officer, fiercely opposed the clearances and was the source of much of the London press's critical coverage of the clearance events in Sutherland. His brother, John Sutherland of Sciberscross, gave "covert aid" in 1813 to the Kildonan rebels opposing the clearances in Sutherland.
Upon the death of the fifth Duke of Sutherland, the chiefship of the clan and the earldom of Sutherland devolved upon his niece, Elizabeth Sutherland, 24th Countess of Sutherland.

Castles

Castles that have been owned by the Clan Sutherland include amongst many others:
, historic seat of the Earls of Sutherland, chiefs of Clan Sutherland.
, also known as Dornoch Palace, held by the Earls of Sutherland in the 16th century, it is now a hotel.
, Sutherland, former seat of the Sutherlands of Skelbo.