Battle of Torran-Roy

Battle of Torran-Roy
Part of Sutherland – Sinclair feud

Coats of arms of the Earl of Sutherland (left) and Earl of Caithness (right)
Date1570
Location
Torran-Roy and Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland
Result The Earl of Caithness’s forces under Sutherland of Duffus are initially defeated by the Murrays of Aberscross who supported the Earl of Sutherland at Torran-Roy. However, the Murrays are soon after defeated by the Earl of Caithness's forces which included the Mackays at Dornoch
Belligerents
Earldom of Caithness:
Clan Sinclair
Sutherlands of Duffus
Clan Mackay
Earldom of Sutherland :
Clan Sutherland
Commanders and leaders
George Sinclair
Alexander Sutherland
Iye Mackay
Alexander Gordon
Hugh Murray

The Battle of Torran-Roy was a Scottish clan battle that took place in the year 1570 in the county of Sutherland, Scotland. It was fought between the forces of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland (chief of Clan Sutherland) and the forces of George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness (chief of the Clan Sinclair). The Earl of Sutherland's force consisted primarily of the Murrays (or Morays) of Aberscross who despite their name were not part of the Clan Murray in Atholl, but who were a sept of the Clan Sutherland, and who as the principal vassals of the Earl of Sutherland, were charged with the defense of the shire. The Earl of Caithness's forces consisted primarily of followers of Alexander Sutherland, 8th of Duffus who was a descendant of the old Sutherland Earls of Sutherland who had been ousted and replaced by the Gordons as earls in the early 16th-century.