Battle of the Spoiling Dyke

Battle of the Spoiling Dyke
Part of the Scottish clan wars

The ruins of Trumpan Church
Date1578
Location
Trumpan Church, Ardmore Bay, Scotland
Result MacLeod victory
Belligerents
Clan MacDonald of Sleat Clan MacLeod
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown
Ardmore Bay

The Battle of the Spoiling Dyke (also known as the 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[1] and Clan MacLeod.[2][3]

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.[4] This again was a tit-for-tat revenge between the two feuding clans.[2][5][6]

  1. ^ "Skye, Trumpan Church". Canmore: National Record of the Historic Environment. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b Clan MacLeod@Electric Scotland.com
  3. ^ "The Massacre at Trumpan Church and the subsequent Battle of the Spoiled Dyke" Archived 2008-10-06 at the Wayback Machine. The Hendry Family. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  4. ^ Kieran, Ben. Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur, Yale University Press, 2007 ISBN 0-300-10098-1, ISBN 978-0-300-10098-3. p.14
  5. ^ Battle of the Spoiling Dyke@The Son of Scotland.co.uk Archived May 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Clan Warfare Archived May 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine