Og’s Rebellion (1480)

Og’s Rebellion (1480)

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Angus Og vs. the Macdonald and
Maclean clans

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Northwestern Scottish Highlands

DECLARATION: None

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: Domination of the
Highlands

OUTCOME: Og defeated his father, the Lord of the Isles,
and caused great and violent feuding throughout the
Highlands.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:
Unknown

CASUALTIES: Unknown, but the Battle of Bloody Bay is
believed to have been extraordinarily savage.

TREATIES: None

In the northwest of Scotland, the Macdonald clan dubbed
themselves the “Lords of the Isles” and rebelled against
the Scottish Crown in the MACDONALD REBELLION in
1411. After years of chronic unrest and uprising, the
Crown reached an agreement with the Macdonalds,
which, however, turned Angus Og (d. 1490), bastard son
of the current lord of the Isles, against his father as well as
the Crown. His break with his father divided the northwestern
Highlands into two warring factions. In 1480, at
the Battle of Bloody Bay, Og, allied now with the Macleod
and MacKenzie clans, fought his father and his allies, the
Macleans. Og not only enjoyed victory, he captured and
imprisoned his father (as well as two of his principal
Maclean officers) and persisted in stirring up violent feuding
in the Highlands. The assassination of Og in 1490
ended this.

Further reading: W. Croft Dickinson, Scotland from
the Earliest Times to 1603, 3rd rev. ed. (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1977).