Battlefields›Battle of Blar na Leine (Battle of the Shirts) 1544
Tudor

Battle of Blar na Leine (Battle of the Shirts) 1544

1544
Inverness-shire, Scotland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Inverness-shire, Scotland
Status
Registered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Clan Fraser of Lovat (assisted by Clan Grant and men of Clan Mackintosh)
VS
Victor
Clan Macdonald of Clanranald (assisted by Clan Cameron)
Forces involved

Accounts vary and are not precisely recorded in contemporary sources; secondary accounts give roughly 300 Frasers versus roughly 500 Macdonalds, though these figures are traditional rather than documented

Outcome
Bloody stalemate; Fraser and Mackintosh forces largely destroyed, Hugh Fraser 3rd Lord Lovat and his son and heir killed among hundreds of dead on both sides.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Blar na Leine (Battle of the Shirts) 1544 was a Tudor pitched battle between opposing field armies, fought at Inverness-shire, Scotland in 1544. Clan Macdonald of Clanranald (assisted by Clan Cameron) prevailed over Clan Fraser of Lovat (assisted by Clan Grant and men of Clan Mackintosh). Bloody stalemate; Fraser and Mackintosh forces largely destroyed, Hugh Fraser 3rd Lord Lovat and his son and heir killed among hundreds of dead on both sides.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Blar na Leine (Battle of the Shirts) 1544 lies on Old Red Sandstone Supergroup, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

Casualties & Losses
  • Traditional accounts state only 5 Frasers and 8 Macdonalds survived out of several hundred combatants on each side; one account states only a dozen survived of some 800 fighters. These figures come from clan tradition/later histories rather than contemporary record
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.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Blar na Leine (Battle of the Shirts) 1544

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Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
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.
Spotlight
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Target Zones
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Timeline
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Blar na Leine (Battle of the Shirts) 1544

Caledonian Canal,Laggan Locks
Caledonian Canal,Laggan Locks
Scheduled monument · ~0.4 mi

Laggan Locks is a series of canal locks forming part of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire. Completed in 1822, the locks were engineered to enable vessels to navigate the changing water levels between Loch Lochy and the River Spean, facilitating passage through the Great Glen from the Moray…

Caledonian Canal,Cullochy Lock
Caledonian Canal,Cullochy Lock
Scheduled monument · ~5.6 mi

Cullochy Lock is a lock forming part of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The lock was constructed as one of a series of hydraulic structures engineered by Thomas Telford to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea, reducing the need for vessels to navigate around Cape Wrath…

Caledonian Canal,Cullochy Lock to Kyltra Lock
Caledonian Canal,Cullochy Lock to Kyltra Lock
Scheduled monument · ~6.5 mi

Caledonian Canal, Cullochy Lock to Kyltra Lock is a section of Scotland's most ambitious engineering achievement of the early nineteenth century. Constructed to link the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea, this stretch of the canal connects two of its principal locks near Fort Augustus in Invernes…

Caledonian Canal,Kyltra Lock
Caledonian Canal,Kyltra Lock
Scheduled monument · ~7.4 mi

Kyltra Lock is a kyltra lock on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire, Scotland. A kyltra lock is a specialised form of lock gate mechanism designed to manage water flow efficiently in canal systems, reflecting nineteenth-century innovations in hydraulic engineering. This lock forms part of the…

Caledonian Canal,Kyltra Lock to Fort Augustus
Caledonian Canal,Kyltra Lock to Fort Augustus
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~8.2 mi

Caledonian Canal, Kyltra Lock to Fort Augustus is a section of the early nineteenth-century canal that links the Great Glen lochs of the Scottish Highlands. This engineering achievement was designed to provide a sheltered sea route for vessels and to develop the local economy of the region. The c…

Caledonian Canal,Laggan Locks to Loch Oich
Scheduled monument · ~0.7 miles
Invergarry Castle
Scheduled monument · ~2.8 miles
Caledonian Canal,Loch Oich to Cullochy Lock
Scheduled monument · ~5.2 miles
More from this era

Other Tudor Battles

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Battle of Aldy Charrish
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Skirmish at Newark
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Simnel March into Yorkshire 1487
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Blar na Leine (Battle of the Shirts) 1544

Blar Leine
~0.1 miles away
Blar Na Léine
~0.7 miles away
Battle of Loch Lochy 1439 — Cameron-Clan Chattan
1439
~4.6 miles away
Battle of Lochaber
1429
~7.1 miles away
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