Chanonry of Ross

The Calendar Writs of Munro of Foulis are series of contemporary legal documents concerning the Munro of Foulis family from the year 1299 to 1823 that were published in books by the Scottish Record Society in the 1940s.[12][13] One of these documents is a letter dated 1572 from Andrew Munro of Milntown to the Regent of Scotland complaining that Colin Mackenzie of Kintail had "slew thre servandis of myne and left thre deidlie woundit brunt and distroyit my cornis hous and barnis in the channorie...".[4] The letter from Munro of Milntown goes on to say that "the nowmer of thre thowsand men" (three thousand men), "asseigit the said hous be a lang space fortefeit" (laid siege to the said house that had been a long time fortified) and that "quhill at last thei seing the hous onrecoverabill" (at last they seeing the house unrecoverable) "be thair force efter thai haid committit greit harshippis upoun the Laird of Foulis and his kin" (their force after had committed great hardships upon the Laird of Foulis).[4] Munro of Milntown also stated in his letter that the castle "was present in the handis of Walter Urquhard shereff of Cromertie" (at present in the hands of Walter Urquhart, Sheriff of Cromartie).[4] Another letter, dated 8 July 1572, from a Richard Mader who was acting as a messenger, endorses an assurance to the king from the Munros and Mackenzies.[5] It also mentions that the Mackenzies along with the Mackintoshes had laid siege to the Chanonry with three thousand men: "McKenze and Mcanetoische wes with thair haill hoistis to the nummer of thre thousand men or therby lying at the sege of the castell of the channory".[5]

Sir Robert Gordon (1580–1656) writes of the feud between the Munros and Mackenzies in his book A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland:

Clancheinzie grudgening, they bought the inheitance therof from Buquhayn, and thervpon they besieged the castle of the channonrie, which the Monroes defended and keipt for the space of thrie yeirs, with the great slaughter on either syd, until it was delyvered to the Clancheinzie, by the act of pacification. And this wes the ground beginning of the fead and hartburning, which, to this day remaynes betuein the Clancheinzie and Munrois.[2]

George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie wrote an account of the feud in his History of the Family of Mackenzie which was written in 1669.[6] George Mackenzie says that the Mackenzies who occupied the steeple of the church made some attempts on the castle that was occupied by the Munros but to little purpose until June 1572 when it was heard that the Munros had gone out to fish on the Ness which was one of the debatable possessions.[6] George Mackenzie goes on to say that the Mackenzies attacked the Munros, but that the Mackenzies were so few in number that they would have been overpowered and slain had not Robert Graham the Archdeacon of Ross come to the assistance of his friend Colin Mackenzie.[6] George Mackenzie states that the Munros fled, three of them having been killed and that only two Mackenzies were wounded.[6] Munro of Milntown then apparently came with considerable power to revenge the rufle but 24 hours later Colin Mackenzie came with an even greater power that he could not resist.[6] The result was that the castle was handed over to Walter Urquhart of Cromartie who was brother-in-law to Mackenzie and that Mackenzie was not to seek possession of it for twenty days in which time Munro of Foulis obliged Munro of Milntown that he should not make any attempt on the property and that he should only address the Regent Morton and the Lords on the matter.[6] The Regent and the Lords later gave their approval to Colin Mackenzie.[6]

John Mackenzie of Applecross wrote his manuscript history of the Mackenzies at around the same time that George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie wrote his and the two tally closely in details.[14] It has therefore been suggested that they derive from a common source.[14] Mackenzie of Applecross's account, like Cromartie's, states that the Mackenzies were supported and relieved by Robert Graham the Archdeacon of Ross during the skirmish.[15] However, while similar to the Earl of Cromartie's account, Mackenzie of Applecross states that twenty-six Munros were killed and not just three, but agrees with Cromartie that only two Mackenzies were wounded.[15] John Mackenzie of Applecross's manuscript states that after that skirmish the Munros were never able to keep out ye Castle, but delivered it to Colin Mackenzie on his return from Edinburgh because he had got all order of law against them.[15]

Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw gave an account of the feud in his book Historical Memoirs of the House and Clan of Mackintosh and of the Clan Chattan (1880). He states that the Frasers supported the Munros and that the Mackintoshes supported the Mackenzies. The feud was ended after much blood-shed, when arbiters, one of whom was Lachlan Mor Mackintosh, 16th of Mackintosh, decided that it belonged to Mackenzie.[16]

Alexander Mackenzie wrote an account of the feud in his books The History of the Mackenzies (1894) and The History of the Munros of Fowlis (1898).[7][17] Alexander Mackenzie repeats the story given by George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie and John Mackenzie of Applecross that the Mackenzies and Mackintoshes occupied the steeple of the church and that an attempted sortie by the Munros for fish at a nearby loch was foiled.[7][17] However, Alexander Mackenzie implies that the Mackenzies took control of the castle by force after the skirmish,[7][17] contrary to the manuscripts which show that it was handed over.[6][15] Alexander Mackenzie gives the number of Munros killed as twenty-six in accordance with John Mackenzie of Applecross's manuscript of 1669.[7][17] He does however increase the number of Mackenzies wounded from two, to three or four, and adds that two Mackenzies were killed.[7][17]