Battlefields›Battle of the Spoiling Dyke
Tudor

Battle of the Spoiling Dyke

1578
Scotland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Clan MacDonald of Sleat
VS
Victor
Clan MacLeod
Outcome
MacLeod victory.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of the Spoiling Dyke or Battle of the Spoiled Dyke (Scottish Gaelic: Blar Milleadh a’ Ghàraidh, Millegearaidh) was a Scottish clan battle that took place in 1578 on the island of Skye between the MacDonalds of Uist and Clan MacLeod.

The MacDonalds of Uist barred the doors of Trumpan Church, or Kilconan Church as it was once known, east of the shores of Ardmore Bay. They then set fire to the church full of worshipers. No one escaped alive except one girl who, although mortally wounded, managed to give the alarm. On hearing the news, the chief of Clan MacLeod and his men set off for Ardmore bay where a battle ensued. The MacDonalds were killed almost to a man. The corpses of the MacDonalds were dragged and then buried in a turf dyke, and the incident remembered as the "Battle of the Spoiling Dyke". The atrocity by the MacDonalds was to exact vengeance on the MacLeods for their atrocity of the massacre of MacDonalds in the Cave of Frances on the Isle of Eigg a couple of years earlier. This again was a tit-for-tat revenge between the two feuding clans.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of the Spoiling Dyke lies on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Palaeogene, bedrock that formed in the Paleogene. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.

Casualties & Losses
  • Clan MacDonald of Sleat: Almost all
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of the Spoiling Dyke

This page covers Battle of the Spoiling Dyke. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

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
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of the Spoiling Dyke

Loch Eynort,St Maelrubha's Church,chapel and burial ground
Loch Eynort,St Maelrubha's Church,chapel and burial ground
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~5.7 mi

St Maelrubha's Church, chapel and burial ground at Loch Eynort is a medieval ecclesiastical site located in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The monument comprises a church, chapel and associated burial ground dedicated to St Maelrubha, the seventh-century Irish monk who founded an important monastery…

Dunan an Aisilidh,dun,An Aird
Dunan an Aisilidh,dun,An Aird
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~5.8 mi

Dunan an Aisilidh is an Iron Age dun situated on An Aird in Inverness-shire, Scotland. This circular stone-built fortification represents a form of defended settlement characteristic of northern Britain during the later prehistoric period. The dun's construction exploited the natural topography o…

Raasay House, cross-incised slab & battery 310m SW of, Raasay
Raasay House, cross-incised slab & battery 310m SW of, Raasay
Scheduled monument · ~6.7 mi

Raasay House, cross-incised slab and battery 310m SW of is a medieval carved stone monument situated on the Inner Hebridean island of Raasay in Inverness-shire. The site comprises a cross-incised slab and associated earthwork battery located in the south-western landscape of the island, close to…

Raasay House,cross slab NNW of
Raasay House,cross slab NNW of
Scheduled monument · ~6.9 mi

Raasay House cross slab is a carved stone monument situated in Inverness-shire, Scotland, located north-north-west of Raasay House. The slab belongs to a tradition of Christian carved stones that flourished in the Hebrides and west Highlands during the medieval period, typically from the 8th to 1…

Cave of Oars,souterrain 250m SE of Raasay House
Cave of Oars,souterrain 250m SE of Raasay House
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~6.9 mi

Cave of Oars is an Iron Age souterrain located 250 metres south-east of Raasay House in Inverness-shire, Scotland. Souterrains are underground stone-built chambers characteristic of Iron Age settlement in northern Britain, typically accessed via a sloping or stepped entrance passage. These struct…

Raasay House,St Maol-Luag's Chapel,110m NE of
Raasay House,St Maol-Luag's Chapel,110m NE of
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~6.9 mi

St Maol-Luag's Chapel is a medieval chapel situated 110 metres north-east of Raasay House in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The site occupies Middle Jurassic bedrock composed of mudstone, sandstone and limestone formations, geology that has shaped the Hebridean landscape for over 160 million years. T…

Clach Oscar, shielings W of
Scheduled monument · ~7.6 miles
Struanmore, chambered cairn 800m SW of Struan Primary School
Scheduled monument · Neolithic · ~8.8 miles
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Simnel March into Yorkshire 1487
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of the Spoiling Dyke

Battle of Bloody Strand 1480
1480
~0.7 miles away
Battle of Coire Na Creiche
1601
~3.1 miles away
Skye, Coire Na Creiche
~3.6 miles away
Battle of Sron Mhor 1601
1601
~4.3 miles away
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Sources
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