Battle of Bealach nam Broig

Battle of Bealach nam Broig
Part of the Scottish clan wars

Ben Wyvis seen from the west. Carn Mòr is the smaller hill on the far left, the pass lies between the two.
Dateprobably 1452 (may be as early as 1299)
Location
between Inverness and Ullapool, near Garbat
grid reference NH422713[1]
57°42′3″N 4°39′4″W / 57.70083°N 4.65111°W / 57.70083; -4.65111
Result Munro and Dingwall victory[2]
Belligerents
Allies of the Earl of Ross:
Clan Munro
Dingwall family
Clan Fraser of Lovat		 Septs of Clan Mackenzie:
Clan MacIver
Clan Macaulay
Clan MacLeay
Clan MacLennan
Commanders and leaders
George Munro, 10th Baron of Foulis †[3]
William Dingwall, Baron of Kildun †[3]
Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat[4]		 Supporters of Alexander Mackenzie, 6th of Kintail:[3]
Donald Garbh MacIver[3]
Duncan Macaulay.[5]
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
According to Sir Robert Gordon (1630):
"lost a great number of men"[6]
According to George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie (1669):
Munro of Foulis and 3 sons killed[7]
According to Alexander Mackenzie (1894):
140 Dingwalls killed[3]
11 Munros killed[3]		 According to Sir Robert Gordon (1630):
"Utterly Extinguished"[6]
According to George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie (1669):
All 26 men killed[7]
According to Alexander Mackenzie (1894):
"Extirpated" (Extinct)[3][8]
The historic district of Ross.

The Battle of Bealach nam Broig (Scottish Gaelic: Pass of the Brogue; also known as the Great Battle of Bealach nam Broig, Bealach nam Brog, Beallighne-Broig, and Bealach na Broige) was fought between Scottish clans from the lands of north-west Ross, against north-eastern clans of Ross who supported the Earl of Ross. The actual date of the battle is debated, it probably occurred in 1452[9] but the Conflicts of the Clans suggests a date as early as 1299.[10]

Bealach nam Brog lies about 20 miles northwest of Inverness in the parish of Fodderty, overlooking the A835 road that goes west past Loch Glascarnoch to Ullapool. The pass separates the high ridge of Ben Wyvis from the lower summit of Carn Mòr, overlooking Loch Bealach Cùlaidh to the east. Thomas describes it as 2 miles north west of Garbat, at the watershed between the Strathrannock River and Garbat River, and also as being between Ferrin-Donald and Lochbroom.[5] The Garbat and Strathrannock both run into the Blackwater, a tributary of the River Conon that flows east from Loch Glascarnoch.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference RCAHMS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fraser.James.Bealach was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Cite error: The named reference HOTM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Anderson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Thomas, Capt. F. W. L. (1879–80). Traditions of the Macaulays of Lewis (PDF). pp. 381–382. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2007. Quoting Robert Gordon's Genealogie of the Earles of Southerland.
  6. ^ a b Gordon, Robert (1813) [Printed from original manuscript 1580 – 1656]. A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland. Edinburgh: Printed by George Ramsay and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company Edinburgh; and White, Cochrance and Co. London. pp. 35-36.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Cromartie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference HOTMOF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Scotland's Historic Fields of Conflict Appendix 4: Initial Priority List of Battles, Battlefields Trust, p. 16
  10. ^ "The Conflict of Beallegh-ne-Broig". The History of the Feuds and Conflicts among the Clans in the Northern Parts of Scotland and in the Western Isles. Glasgow: Printed by J. & J. Robertson for John Gillies, Perth. 1780 [Originally published in 1764 by Foulis press]. pp. 4-5. Written from a manuscript wrote in the reign of James VI of Scotland (Sir Robert Gordon's A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland).