Innes vs. Dunbar

The feud between the Innes’s and the Dunbar’s was at its peak in the 16th century and got so bad that the citizens of Aberdeen had petitioned the crown to step in and end the feud. The first incident on record between these two clans took place on New Years Day of 1554. One hundred Clan Innes men descended on the Cathedral of Elgin during Vespers or evening prayer with the intent of killing  Alexander Dunbar, the Prior of Pluscarden and David Dunbar, the Dean of Moray.  The Dunbar’s also brought seventy fighting men, led by James Dunbar, with the specific intent of slaying William Innes and his clansmen.  According to accounts of the time, it was a very bloody and violent clash that took place inside the Elgin Cathedral with neither clan having the upper hand.  This was considered a very exceptional incident for the time, it was known as “the Bloody Vespers”, due to the fact that the battle took place during a church service.

The second major incident took place over twenty years later in 1577 when a group of Innes’s, under the leadership of Robert Innes of Invermarkie, ventured to the Manse or house of Alexander Dunbar, the dean of the Canonry of Elgin.   Upon entering the property, they viciously beat Alexander Dunbar’s servant, broke the stable door and cut the halter of the four horses in an attempt to steal them.  This commotion woke up Alexander Dunbar who left his chamber armed with only a small knife for protection.  The Innes’s immediately attacked him with their swords leaving him critically wounded.  Alexander’s thirteen year old daughter, Elizabeth Dunbar was fatally stabbed by John Innes through the chest.  After the Innes’s hastily left the property, neighbors and clansmen arrived to find a bloody scene but were able to save Alexander Dunbar’s life. The Dunbar Clan appealed to the Crown, requesting justice, the crown agreed and indicted the Innes’s who then were declared fugitives.  On the run, they hid out with a group of other outlaws. This group made a big mistake on May 29, 1578, when the entered the Dean of Carsehillock’s property and stole 40 sheep, along with several ewes and lambs.  After hearing about this theft the King granted a commission to the Sheriffs of Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Forres, Nairn and Inverness to track down this group and included in the decree that the Sheriffs have the authority to “siege, burn, and destroy any fortalices where they make shelter”.

Once the Innes’s were apprehended the Crown decided that they would attempt to settle the difference between these two clans.  They met at Cluny Hill near Forres with an arbitration panel led by several nobles including George Bishop of Moray and Robert Munro of Fowlis.  Both clans were given time to submit their disputes.  In the end the arbitrators decreed that the Dunbar’s were not allowed to be “east of the cairn of Kilbuyak” and the Innes’s were not to enter the “burgh of Forres”, stating that “Like wild cats they must be kept apart lest they should fly at each other’s throats”.