Talk:William III, Earl of Ross

New Article Suggestion

I am researching the activities and rationale behind the Harlaw campaign mounted by Donald, Lord of the Isles against Scotland in 1411 and this article is important to that research. As it currently stands it contains a number of inaccuracies and I am proposing a re-write which I include below. If there is no input in a week I'll edit the page with the new article. Family locator (talk) 04:21, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Currently the article is:

Uilleam (or William) III of Ross was the fourth successor of Ferchar mac in tSagairt, as Mormaer of Ross (1333/6-1370).

Uilleam came into his inheritance at a torrid time, his father Aodh dying at the Battle of Halidon Hill. Uilleam temporarily lost many of his lands. However, he returned from Norway in 1336 and regained them. Uilleam cultivated the friendship of the Stewarts, and was rewarded by being appointed Justiciar of Scotia. Uilleam's reign was marked by continued strife with his nominal vassal, Ranald MacRuadridh (Lord of Skye). In 1348, Uilleam killed Ranald with eight of his men at the nunnery of Elcho.

Uilleam married Màiri, the daughter of Aonghas Óg MacDomhnaill. They had an heir, Uilleam, but he died in 1357. Uilleam's lands were forfeited by King David II in 1370. Uilleam died in 1372, and the Mormaerdom was given to his daughter Euphemia with her husband Sir Walter Leslie, thus ending the dynasty started a century and a half before by the great Ferchar. The dominions eventually passed to the MacDonald Lords of the Isles.

Bibliography

• Roberts, John L., Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1997)

Proposed

Uilleam (or William)3rd of that name and 5th Earl of Ross succeeded his father Hugh, Earl of Ross, as the 5th Mormaer of Ross and Lord of Skye. At the time of the death of his father in 1333 at the Battle of Halidon Hill, Uilleam was in Norway and thus did not take possession of his inheritance until 1336. Probably born about 1305 he was of age in 1333. His sister was Marjory who was married to Malise, Earl of Strathearn, Caithness, and Orkney as his second wife.

Siege of Perth

In 1339, the Earl participated with Robert, the High Steward, as one of the leaders at the Siege of Perth. Perth, at the time, was held by Sir Thomas Ughtred as Constable to Edward Balliol and the city was strongly fortified. The castle, newly built and of stone, was surrounded on three sides by the Perth Town Lade (acting as a moat), with the remaining side fronting the Tay. It was difficult to breach and easily supplied from English ships on the Tay.

The siege continued for over two months without success. Robert sought support from France to break the English supply line and was provided with five French ships-of-war which he station on the Firth of Tay thus providing a blockade. At the end of June, Uilleam and his men mined the approach to the Lade and diverted the waters away from the Lade. The army could now fill the lade with brushwood and prepared to scale the walls.

The attack was set for 7 July 1339 and the forces prepared for the assault when a solar eclipse commenced. Being viewed as inauspicious the attack was delayed. However Sir Thomas Ughtred, determining that he could not survive an assault, resigned the castle and was permitted to retire to England with honours.

Actions as Earl

On 4 July 1342 Uilleam granted the lands of Kennetale (likely Kintail) to Reginald (or Ranald), son of Roderick de Insulis (of the Isles). Ranald was of the Clan Macruari that had been devastated through their adherence to the cause of Balliol. When David II mustered his army at Perth for an invasion of England in 1346 (which was to lead to his disaster at the Battle of Neville's Cross) Uilleam, for reasons unknown, along with eight men, murdered Ranald Macruari at the nunnery of Elcho where upon Uilleam fled to Ross and didn't participate at the Battle of Neville's Cross. Although David was captured at the battle, attempts were made, by Parliament, to bring Uilleam to account and in 1348 there are suggestions of him interfering with the collection of evidence. He denies all charges against him in 1358 and there is no evidence of any action taken against him.

In 1357, on the liberation of David II the Earl is accepted as security for the ransom of the king although only seems to have been in England for two years.

In 1366 he was one of the leaders of the northern lords that refused to contribute taxes to the payment of the ransom for David and absented himself from Parliament in 1366 and 1367.

His uncle, Sir John Ross, was married to Margaret Comyn, the second daughter and co-heiress to John Comyn, Earl of Buchan. Her inheritance had been half the lands of Buchan. As such, when he died, without heir, around 1368, Uilleam was served heir to the inheritance including the lands in Aberdeenshire, setting up, probably, what was to lead Donald, Lord of the Isles, to the Battle of Harlaw.

This inheritance included the position of Justiciar of Scotia north of the Forth and made him one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland. As such, and without male heir, he drew the attention of the King in the determination of the marriages of his two remaining daughters. King David favoured a marriage between the eldest daughter Euphemia and Sir Walter Leslie a friend and strong companion, and, although not sanctioned by Uilleam the couple were married in 1369 or early 1370. To ensure support and to avoid retributions David forced Uilleam to resign all his possessions for re-infeftment. This he did and a new charter was granted, on 23 October 1370, "granted of the earldom of Ross and lordship of Skye, and of all his lands except those which belonged to the earldom of Buchan, to be held first to the Earl and to the heirs-male of his body; whom failing, to Sir Walter de Lesley, Euphemia, his spouse, and their heirs; whom failing, to his youngest daughter Joanna or Janet, and her heirs". It is worth noting that the re-grant did not include any lands in Buchan nor the position of Justiciar of Scotia.

When David died in 1371 Uilleam complained to Robert II that he had been unfairly treated and bullied into granting his possessions given to Sir Walter Leslie but to no avail.

Death

Uilleam died at Delny on 9 February 1372.

Marriage and family

Uilleam married Fionnuala, the daughter of Aonghas Óg MacDomhnaill (it is worth noting that it was intended that Uilleam marry the eldest daughter Màiri and a Papal dispensation was dated 25 May 1342, but Màiri married a John Stewart and another Papal dispensation provided, dated 8 June 1342, for the marriage between Uilleam and Fionnuala).

The couple had three children: A Uilleam, who in 1354 was proposed as a hostage for the payment of the King's ransom but was too ill to travel in August 1357 and must have died before the end of 1357; Euphemia who, along with her husband, Sir Walter Leslie, was to be granted the Earldom of Ross; and a Joanna or Janet, who, in 1375, married Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie and were the ancestors of Lord Saltoun but she was dead shortly before 1400.

Bibliography

• Roberts, John L., Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1997)
• Balfour Paul, Sir James, The Scots Peerage; founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, (Edinburgh, 1914)