Kermac Macmaghan

Locations relating to Kermac's life and times.

In the mid point of the thirteenth century, Alexander II, King of Scots, and his son and successor, Alexander III, King of Scots, made several attempts to incorporate the Hebrides into the Scottish realm.[2] Forming a part of the Kingdom of the Isles, these islands were a component of the far-flung Norwegian commonwealth.[3] The independence of the Islesmen, and the lurking threat of their nominal overlord, the formidable Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway, constituted a constant source of concern for the Scottish Crown.[2]

Seal of Alexander III depicting the armament of a contemporary mounted knight.

In 1261, Alexander III sent an embassy to Norway attempting to negotiate the purchase of the Isles from the Norwegian Crown. When mediation came to nought, Alexander III evidently orchestrated an invasion into the Isles as means to openly challenge his Norwegian counterpart's authority.[4] Specifically, the thirteenth-century Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar indicates that Kermac aided William I, Earl of Ross during this action, and states that the two led a force of Scots who burnt down a town and churches on Skye. The invaders are described to have killed many men and women in their attack, and to have viciously impaled little children upon their spears.[5] It is possible that the remarkable savagery attributed to the Scots may have been intended to terrorise the Islesmen into submission.[6] The island itself appears to have formed part of the kingdom controlled by Magnús Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles.[7] The earl's followers in this enterprise were likely drawn from his vast provincial lordship.[8]

Nineteenth-century stained glass window commemorating the Battle of Largs.[9]

Thus provoked, Hákon assembled an enormous fleet to reassert Norwegian sovereignty along the north and west coasts of Scotland. In July 1263, this fleet disembarked from Norway, and by mid August, Hákon reaffirmed his overlordship in Shetland and Orkney, forced the submission of Caithness, and arrived in the Hebrides.[10] Having rendezvoused with his vassals in the region, Hákon secured several castles, oversaw raids into the surrounding mainland.[11] Unfortunately for the Norwegian king, stormy weather drove some of his ships ashore on the Ayrshire coast. A series of inconclusive skirmishes upon the shore near Largs, together with ever-worsening weather, discouraged the Norwegians and convinced them to turn for home. After redistributing portions of the region to certain faithful supporters, Hákon led his forces from the Hebrides and reached the Northern Isles, where he fell ill and died that December.[12]

Alexander III of Scotland Rescued from the Fury of a Stag by the Intrepidity of Colin Fitzgerald, an eighteenth-century depiction of an unhistorical Mackenzie ancestor purported to have lived during Kermac's floruit.[13][note 1]

Although Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar declares that the Norwegian campaign was a triumph, in reality it was an utter failure.[19] Hákon had failed to break Scottish power; and the following year, Alexander III seized the initiative, and oversaw a series of invasions into the Isles and northern Scotland. According to the thirteenth-century Gesta Annalia I, one such expedition was undertaken by Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, William, Earl of Mar, and Alan Hostarius.[20] Heavy fines were extracted from the northern reaches of the Scottish realm. Two hundred head of cattle were extracted from the Caithnessmen,[21] and one hundred eighty head of cattle from the Earl of Ross himself.[22] The severity of this latter fine could be evidence that the earl's actions during the Scoto-Norwegian conflict were deemed unacceptable by the Scottish Crown.[23] In fact, the aforesaid Alexander Comyn and Alan are known to have extracted twenty head of cattle from William's earldom and granted this sum to Kermac as compensation for services rendered.[24][note 2]

In 1266, almost three years after Hákon's abortive campaign, terms of peace were finally agreed upon between the Scottish and Norwegian Crowns. Specifically, with the conclusion of the Treaty of Perth in July, Hákon's son and successor, Magnús Hákonarson, King of Norway, formally resigned all rights to Mann and the islands on the western coast of Scotland. In so doing, the territorial dispute over Scotland's western maritime region was settled at last.[26]

According to tradition, Eilean Donan Castle was constructed by a chieftain from Kintail, a man who could be identical to Kermac.[27] The present structure dates to the early twentieth century,[28] and serves as an example of modern romanticism rather than a mediaeval fortress.[29]

Kermac appears to be identical to Coinneach mac Mathghamhna, a figure who appears in the pedigree of Clan Matheson (Clann Mhic Mhathain) preserved within the fifteenth-century MS 1467.[30] If correct, Kermac would be the clan's eponymous ancestor,[31] and the record of 1264 would be the earliest recorded instance of the Gaelic surname borne by the clan.[32][note 3] Another clan covered within MS 1467 is the neighbouring Clan Mackenzie (Clann Choinnich).[34] Although this Mackenzie genealogy can be interpreted as evidence of a line of descent from Coinneach as well,[35] an alternative interpretation of this source is that it is evidence that the clans share an earlier common ancestor.[36][note 4]

According to tradition that seems to refer to Coinneach, a young chieftain from Kintail—a man related to the Mathesons—spent time on the Continent in the service of the King of France. After having travelled to distant lands on a ship provided by the king, this chieftain is said to have returned home to Scotland a prosperous and accomplished man, and was later commissioned by Alexander II, King of Scotland to construct Eilean Donan Castle.[27] According to the mediaeval chronicler Matthew Paris, Hugh de Châtillon, Count of Saint-Pol commissioned the construction of a great ship at Inverness in preparation for the Seventh Crusade.[42] Although it is unknown whether Kermac was indeed a sea-going participant in this crusade led by Louis IX, King of France,[43] some Scottish noblemen certainly did accompany the king on the campaign.[44]