Battlefields›Battle of Glenlivet, 1594 (Argyll's Northern Campaign)
Tudor

Battle of Glenlivet, 1594 (Argyll's Northern Campaign)

1594
Banffshire, Scotland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Banffshire, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Argyll (Protestant royalist force)
VS
Victor
Huntly and Erroll (Catholic earls)
Forces involved

Protestant royalist force under Argyll: approximately 6,000-10,000 infantry; Catholic force under Huntly and Erroll: approximately 1,500, mostly cavalry, aided by six small artillery pieces

Outcome
Argyll's northern march to suppress the Catholic earls culminated in a tactical defeat at Glenlivet on 3 October 1594; despite this, King James VI subsequently marched north largely unopposed, and Huntly and Erroll fled abroad by early 1595 before later submitting for amnesty.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Glenlivet, 1594 (Argyll's Northern Campaign) was a Tudor pitched battle between opposing field armies, fought at Banffshire, Scotland in 1594. Huntly and Erroll (Catholic earls) prevailed over Argyll (Protestant royalist force). Argyll's northern march to suppress the Catholic earls culminated in a tactical defeat at Glenlivet on 3 October 1594; despite this, King James VI subsequently marched north largely unopposed, and Huntly and Erroll fled abroad by early 1595 before later submitting for amnesty.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Glenlivet, 1594 (Argyll's Northern Campaign) lies on Appin Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is marble, meta-limestone.

Casualties & Losses
  • Approximately 500 killed on the Protestant/Argyll side; around 14 gentlemen slain on the Catholic side
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Monuments
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Battlefields
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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
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Historical Maps
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Literature
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Glenlivet, 1594 (Argyll's Northern Campaign)

Blairfindy Castle,20m N of Castleton
Blairfindy Castle,20m N of Castleton
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~3.1 mi

Blairfindy Castle is a medieval fortified structure located approximately 20 metres north of Castleton in Banffshire, Scotland. The castle represents a modest stronghold of the medieval period, constructed to control and protect interests in the locality. The surviving remains are fragmentary, re…

Drumin Castle
Drumin Castle
Scheduled monument · ~4 mi

Drumin Castle is a late medieval fortified residence located in Banffshire, in the northeast of Scotland. The castle dates to the fifteenth century and represents the domestic architecture of the Scottish landed gentry during the late medieval period. The structure survives as a tower house of mo…

Andrew Stuart / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Knock,souterrain 200m NNE of
Knock,souterrain 200m NNE of
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~6.1 mi

Knock souterrain is an Iron Age underground stone-built passage located near Knock in Banffshire, north-east Scotland. Situated 200 metres north-north-east of the settlement, the souterrain represents a distinctive form of prehistoric architecture found throughout northern Britain, typically dati…

Pitchroy, stone circle 240m NNE of
Pitchroy, stone circle 240m NNE of
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~7 mi

Pitchroy is a Bronze Age stone circle located in Morayshire, Scotland, situated 240 metres north-north-east of the settlement from which it takes its name. The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1218. Stone circles of this type were constructed during the Bro…

Mortlach, Battle Stone, symbol stone
Mortlach, Battle Stone, symbol stone
Scheduled monument · ~7.7 mi

Mortlach Battle Stone is a symbol stone located in Banffshire, Scotland, protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM350. The monument belongs to a class of carved stones that were erected across northern Britain during the early medieval period, typically associated with signifi…

Auchindoun Castle, castle and fort
Auchindoun Castle, castle and fort
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~8 mi

Auchindoun Castle is a castle and fort situated in Banffshire, Scotland, occupying a commanding position that has been fortified across multiple periods of occupation. The site demonstrates evidence of Iron Age settlement, with later medieval and early modern structures built upon or near the pre…

Deskie Castle
Scheduled monument · ~3.1 miles
Doune of Dalmore, cairn and stone circle
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~4 miles
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