Battlefields›Battle of Inverlochy (1431)
Medieval

Battle of Inverlochy (1431)

1431
Scotland
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Registered · Canmore 23707
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Kingdom of Scotland
VS
Victor
Lordship of the Isles
Outcome
Lordship victory.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Inverlochy (1431) (Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Inbhir Lòchaidh) was fought after Alexander of Islay (Alasdair Ìle, Rìgh Innse Gall), Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, had been imprisoned by King James I. A force of Highlanders led by Donald Balloch, Alexander's cousin, defeated Royalist forces led by the Earls of Mar and Caithness at Inverlochy, near present-day Fort William. Over 1000 men were supposedly killed, among them the Earl of Caithness. Balloch then went on to ravage the country of Clan Cameron and Clan Chattan, clans who had been disloyal to Alexander. King James himself soon after led an army into the Highlands, and Highland forces left off.

Alexander was liberated by King James in October 1431, it is said as a part of a royal amnesty granted to several upon the birth of the king's son James II. but the timing for that doesn't fit. When King James finally set Alexander free, he was the only magnate who could offer security in the Highlands. Upon the king's murder in 1437, Alexander was again recognized as the Earl of Ross, and not only received control of Dingwall, but Inverness, too, which he would hold until at least 1447.

The pibroch The End of the Great Bridge is traditionally held to have been composed during the battle and Piobaireachd Domhnull Dubh, named for clan chief Donald Dubh Cameron, commemorates the battle.

By January 1437 Alexander was styling himself "Earl of Ross" in his charters, and this style was acknowledged in royal documents by 1439. Finally, in February 1439, Alexander was appointed Justiciar of Scotia, an office which made him the chief legal official in the Kingdom of Scotland.

MacDonald, Hugh, History of the MacDonalds, in Highland Papers, vol. I, 1914.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Inverlochy (1431) lies on Grampian Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite and semipelite.

Casualties & Losses
  • Lordship of the Isles: 30 killed
  • Kingdom of Scotland: 900 killed
Registered Historic Battlefield

This battlefield is listed on the Register of Historic Battlefields — a national designation identifying Britain's most significant battle sites for protection and further research. Reference: Canmore 23707.

Questions & Answers

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Overview
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Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Inverlochy (1431)

Fort William, fort
Fort William, fort
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~1 mi

Fort William is an Iron Age fort located in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The site occupies a naturally defensive position, its bedrock composed of ancient metasedimentary schist formed during the Neoproterozoic and belonging to the Moinian sequence. This metamorphic foundation provided a stable bas…

Caledonian Canal,Neptune's Staircase,canal locks,Banavie
Caledonian Canal,Neptune's Staircase,canal locks,Banavie
Scheduled monument · ~1.4 mi

Neptune's Staircase is a flight of eight canal locks at Banavie in Argyllshire, Scotland, forming the most dramatic section of the Caledonian Canal. Completed in the early nineteenth century, the locks descend steeply from Banavie towards Loch Eil, raising or lowering vessels by a total of 64 fee…

Caledonian Canal,Corpach Locks and Basin
Caledonian Canal,Corpach Locks and Basin
Scheduled monument · ~1.8 mi

Corpach Locks and Basin is a major engineering work on the Caledonian Canal in Argyllshire, Scotland. The locks and basin form the sea-level terminus of the canal system, managing the transition between freshwater and tidal waters. The structure sits upon psammite bedrock of the Loch Eil Group, f…

Caledonian Canal,Moy Swing Bridge
Caledonian Canal,Moy Swing Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~5.5 mi

Moy Swing Bridge is a moy swing bridge on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire, Scotland. It is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland. The bridge exemplifies the engineering solutions developed for the Canal's construction in the early nineteenth century, which requir…

Caledonian Canal, Gairlochy Locks, lighthouse and signal lamp
Caledonian Canal, Gairlochy Locks, lighthouse and signal lamp
Scheduled monument · ~7 mi

Gairlochy Locks, Lighthouse and Signal Lamp is a scheduled monument in Inverness-shire, forming part of the Caledonian Canal's critical infrastructure. The locks sit upon fault zone bedrock comprising mylonitic rock and fault-breccia, geological features that reflect the ancient tectonic disturba…

Inverlochy Castle
Scheduled monument · ~0.4 miles
Caledonian Canal,Corpach to Banavie
Scheduled monument · ~1.3 miles
Tor Castle
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Inverlochy (1431)

Battle of Inverlochy I
~0.2 miles away
Battle of Inverlochy (1645)
1645
~0.3 miles away
Battle of Inverlochy Ii
~0.3 miles away
Cromwellian Fort at Inverlochy 1654
1654
~1.1 miles away
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