!BIOGRAPHY: Sir Robert Douglas of Glenbervie, Baronet, THE BARONAGE
OF SCOTLAND, Edinburgh, 1798, pp. 381, 382.
II. John Macleod of Contilich, only son of Sir Norman''s first marriage,
married Isabel, eldest daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie of Scatwell,
second son of sir Roderick Mackenzie of Tarbat, uncle to George first
earl of Cromarty, by whom he had five sons and three daughters."
!BIOGRAPHY: Rev. Dr. Donald MacKinnon and Alick Morrison, THE
MACLEODS--THE GENEALOGY OF A CLAN, Section II, Edinburgh, The Clan
MacLeod Society, ND, pp. 30, 70-73.
Designated first of Mishnish in Mull and later as of Contullich, near
Alness in Easter Ross.
Although the eldest son, John, did not succeed to the island of Berneray,
he became factor on the MacLeod estates for Norman, 20th Chief, from
1700-1706 and Tutor to the young Norman, 22nd Chief from 1706-1720.
John the Tutor (Iain Taoitear), the name by which he was familiarly
know by his contemporaries, was an influential man in the annals of the
Clan MacLeod for many years. He resided at Claiginn and Dunvegan,
where he not only administered the domestic affairs of the Clan but also
directed its policy. He was a Jacobite. In 1716 Prince James Stuart,
now King James III and VIII to the Jacobites, created the ten-year-old
Chief of the MacLeods a Baron, in recognition of the loyal services of the
Tutor of MacLeod. In 1719, after the disastrous battle of Glenshiel, the
Jacobite leader, the Marquis of Tullibardine, with a price of £2,000 on
his head, fled to Skye and stayed with the Tutor at Claiginn. Thereafter,
he crossed the Minch where he stayed for a week (7th to 13th February)
with the Tutor''s half-brother, William, on the island of Berneray. Then
he crossed to the mainland of Harris where he was entertained for fully
a fortnight by the Tutor''s son, Roderick MacLeod of Ensay, who happened
to be "Baylie" of Harris at the time. The Baylie handed Tullibardine the
sum of £78 on the eve of his departure from Strond to Pambeouf in
Brittany. King James III and VIII wrote a grateful letter to MacLeod,
dated 10th August 1720, praising "the singular loyalty and former
sufferings of your Family for the Crown" and, in particular, "how
extreame sensible I am of the great and good part you and your clan
acted when the Marquis of Tullibardine was last in Scotland and of the
help and assistance you were to him in all respects."
In administering the affairs of the Clan, the Tutor was assisted by his
sons, Alexander, Roderick, and, to a lesser extent, by Donald, the famous
"Old Trojan" of Berneray. These duties the Tutor was well able to
undertake for he was trained as a lawyer in Edinburgh and had a long and
varied experience as an advocate at the Scottish Bar. According to his
son, Roderick MacLeod, "The Tutor, during the whole of his
administration had acted the part of ane honest and faithful relation and
inteded everything for the support and advantage of the family (the
Chief''s family) and the preservation of MacLeod''s tenants, which he
apprehended to be very much the interest of a Highland Chief." When
John MacLeod of Contullich became factor, the Estate had to meet a debt
and commitments of £86,000 Scots. During his six years as factor he
cleared off some £25,000 of the debt and despite some bad years, he
cleared off £60,000 of debt, during his period as Tutor, and all this was
done without materially increasing the burdens on the tenants. Well
might Alexander MacLeod, John''s half-brother and MacLeod''s ''doer'' in
Edinburgh, claim, "This management was the most advantageous for the
proprietor that ever happened in that or any other neighbouring family
and that has hitherto defyed the strictest enquiry that could be made to
give the least existence of fraud or dishonesty in any step of it."
[TRANSACTION OF GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS, 1966 and 1967.]
Unfortunately, the mind of the young Chief, Norman 22nd, had been
poisoned against the Tutor by his mother and curators. In 1724, the
young Chief took over full control of his Estate and conducted a
searching scrutiny into the administration of the Tutor. In consequence,
we possess a detailed and authentic statement of the affairs of the
MacLeod Estates, which throws a flood of much needed light on the
social and economic aspects of Clan life at this most interesting period.
The case was finally settled by arbitration in 1727. Roderick MacLeod,
heir of Contullich, was required to pay £9,000 Scots in three years, the
first part on Whitsunday 1728, with annual rents from the respective
terms of payment and a fifth more of penalty. This inequitable decision
was indeed, "an ill requittal for a long and faithful srvice".
The Chiefs were absent from Dunvegan Castel from 1693 to 1724
except for occasional visits. It was necessary for the Tutor to reside in
the island of Skye in order to discharge his high and onerous position as
virtual head of the Clan and for this reason he had to waive his rights to
succeed to the island of Berneray to his younger half-brother, William of
Berneray, later of Luskintyre. In return, he possessed two ideally
situated tacks at Claiginn and Scor in Duirinish, Skye, as well as the
small farm of Camlog in Waternish. He possessed the estate of
''Mishnish'' in Mull during his period as factor and the estate of
''Contullich'' in Easter Ross, thereafter. John MacLeod was a great
favourite of the bardess, Mairi nighean Alasdair Ruaidh. To him she
composed one of her finest songs entitled, "Luinneag do Iain MacShir
Tormoid Mhic Leoid." She praises him not only as his father''s sons but
also in his own right. She sings of her friend and benefactor thus:
''A true MacLeod fresh and splendid art thou,
comely, prudent, wise and generous,
of the race of princely herioes,
good as a host to poet bands.
A pure and gentle blood-drop art thou,
dowered with the brilliance of the peacock,
with thy rich curling hair all golden as harp-strings,
a bright and gentle countenance withal,
that were no false narration of thy beauty.''
Probably it was during the regime of John MacLeod at Dunvegan that
Mary came there from Berneray at his invitation and probably also went
with him to Mull, when he was in Mishnish. There is nothing inconsistent
with such a probabiltiy in any of her poems that have come down to us.
The Tutor found himself involved in the interesting case of Neil Beaton.
[INVERARY PAPERS, Register House.] The latter, who had been tutor to
Norman, 20th Chief, in Edinburgh, later became tutor in the household at
Berneray, Harris. Here he fell in love with his youngest pupil, Margaret,
daughter of Sir Norman MacLeod and, therefore, the Tutor''s half-sister.
Margaret became pregnant and both lovers signed a solemn obligation of
marriage. Beaton now wrote two submissive letters to her mother,
Catherine MacDonald of Sleat, Sir Norman''s second wife, and to her
brother, William MacLeod of Berneray, explaining the whole position.
The upshot was that Neil Beaton had to flee from Berneray "under cover
of night" to the Isle of Skye, for he feared "death and broken bones".
There he lurked for 10 days and finally presented himself to the Tutor of
MacLeod, who not only upbraided him for his conduct, but insisted that he
must break the bond of marriage. When Neil Beaton refused, he was
promptly committed to the dungeon of Dunvegan Castle. Thereafter, "he
was set down in irons in the middle of the congregation of Duirinish" and
soundly belaboured from the pulpit by the Rev. Dugald MacPherson. To
crown all he was conveyed to the island of Berneray in chains for three
further days and compelled to subscribe a deed of banishment on the 5th
March 1706 that he, "would quitt and forsake the bounds of Skye and the
Long Is." Neil Beaton, however, managed to escape from the boat
conveying him into exile. After some adventures in Skye, he reached Mull
where "friends and lawyers" advised him to seek the protection of the
Earl of Argyle, then the hereditary Justice General of Argyll and the
Isles. Here judgment was delivered on the 26th September 1707,
allowing Neil Beaton to return to Skye and the Tutor and others were
warned not to molest him or restrain his freedom in any way. Though the
Tutor appears to have acted harshly in this case, it should not be
forgotten that the case immediately concerned his family, that Neil
Beaton had broken his trust and subscribed a bond of marriage which was
legal by Scottish law, without consulting the girl''s parents. In addition
we do not know the full details of Neil Beaton''s private life, for on his
own admission, he was helped to escape from Berneray by his son.
John MacLeod, the Tutor, died in 1726 and was buried at Rodel in Harris.
He married Isabel, eldest daughter of Kenneth MacKenzie 1st of the
MacKenzies of Scatwell [CLAN MACLEOD MAGAZINE, 1958 and 1959.]
(second son of Sir Roderick MacKenzie, Tutor of Kintail) and his second
wife, Janet, daughter of Walter Ross of the Rosses of Invercharron, with
issue.
John MacLeod, 2nd of the MacLeods of Berneray, died, as already noted,
in 1726, and was succeeded in the representation of the family by his
third surviving son.
!MENTION: Rev. Dr. Donald MacKinnon and Alick Morrison, THE
MACLEODS--THE GENEALOGY OF A CLAN, Section II, Edinburgh, The Clan
MacLeod Society, 1968, p. 67.