BattlefieldsBattle 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
Unregistered
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)
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

A tudor pitched battle fought in 1544 near Inverness-shire, Scotland. Recorded strengths: Accounts vary and are not precisely recorded in contemporary sources; secondary accounts give roughly 300 Frasers versus roughly 500 Macdonalds, though these fi….

Confirmed battlefield location
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

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

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