Plantations by Land and Sea

Introduction

On 27 May 1597 a case came before the Privy Council in Edinburgh concerning an incident which had taken place over a decade earlier in September 1584. Gilbert Thomson, a burgess of Ayr, along with his nephew David Reid and ‘ane gentilman of Irland’ had ‘ladened a boat of his with wines, salt and other merchandise, at the haven of Air, intending to transport the same to the Isle of Lochfeule in Irland, and there to sell the same’. The journey did not go as planned. According to Thomson, ‘a grite storme and tempest’ arose whereby they were ‘drevin in to the ile of Rachrie, pertening to Angus McConeill of Dunnyveg’. Upon their arrival ‘ane grite noumer of people within that cuntrey, being all men and servandis to the said Angus … patt violent hands’ on Thomson and his party. The ‘gentilman of Irland, quha … sould have bene his convoy to the said Ile in Irland’, and Thomson’s nephew Reid, were stripped and ‘cruellie and barbarouslie slew’, with Thomson himself only saved from the same fate by ‘ane gentilman of that cuntrey, quha knew him, [and] relevit him’. While they spared his life, the islanders ‘violentlie intromettit’ with the boat and its merchandise, leaving Thomson ‘destitute’. Bereft of clothes and money Thomson ‘repaired to the residence of the said Angus and complained to him of the said slaughter and spuilyie committed by his men’. In response, Angus promised to make restitution of Thomson’s boat and goods, and to punish any of his own servants that had been involved in this crime. MacDonald, however, failed to follow through with these assurances and, some thirteen years later, Thomson was forced to take alternative measures in order to gain compensation. In his statement to the Privy Council he argued that by these ‘oppressionis and wrangis’ he ←1 | 2→was ‘ulluterlie wrackit and herreit, having nothing now quhairupoun to sustene him’ and, ‘being past the age of lxxx yeiris, unable to travel for his leving’. The Privy Council called both parties to appear to hear the case in full and allow MacDonald the opportunity to answer the allegations made against him. While Thomson appeared in person, MacDonald failed to do likewise and was ‘denounced rebel’.¹

At first glance there seems little that is remarkable or notable about this attack by the inhabitants of Rathlin Island on a ship with a full cargo and its crew. The Privy Council of Scotland had every right to hear and deal with the case; it was a domestic issue involving two subjects of the Scottish crown.² The defendant, Angus MacDonald of Dunivaig, was an important Highland clan chief whose estate lay primarily in Islay and Kintyre in the southwest of Scotland; while the complainant was Gilbert Thomson, burgess of the thriving burgh of Ayr, one of the main ports on the southwest coast of Scotland. This was but one of a number of similar cases brought before the Privy Council relating to attacks on shipping, the theft of cargo and the injury, if not murder, of crew-members. Such incidents of maritime violence were common in the waters off the west coast of Scotland where island and coastal communities existed, survived and thrived on account of their maritime strength. This was especially true of the waters of the North Channel which saw frequent traffic between Scotland and Ireland. While little else is known about Thomson, we do know much more ←2 | 3→about Angus MacDonald of Dunivaig, and this opportunistic attack, despite resulting in the death of the Irish pilot as well as loss of goods, could easily be dismissed as a piratical endeavour by the lawless and disobedient MacDonalds.³ Although it had clear ramifications for both individuals (loss of livelihood for Thomson and MacDonald put to the horn) in the bigger picture this event is barely a footnote in history. However, a closer consideration raises a number of questions, interpretations and historiographical issues that this book seeks to explore.