The Battle of Daltullich, 1499

The Battle of Daltullich was a Scottish clan battle that took place in the autumn of 1499 at a place called Daltullich, near Strathnairn in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between members of the Clan Calder and Clan Campbell.

The conflict arose due to the complicated succession of the chiefship of Clan Calder. The Thane of Cawdor, chief of the Clan Calder, had a son named John Calder, who had two daughters, Janet and Muriel. When the Thane of Cawdor died, there was some confusion over the succession to the chiefship, as the Thane had made two conflicting entails regarding the succession. One entail stated that the succession would pass to the nearest male heir of the Calders, while the other stated that it would pass to either the male or female issue of John Calder.

Muriel, the heiress to the chiefship, was the maternal granddaughter of Rose of Kilravock Castle. Rose initially intended to marry Muriel to one of his grandsons, but he eventually agreed to deliver her to Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll, in exchange for Argyll dropping a prosecution against him. In pursuance of this agreement, Argyll was granted the ward of marriage of Muriel on 16 January 1495.

In the autumn of 1499, Argyll sent Campbell of Inverliver, with sixty men, to retrieve Muriel and bring her to Inveraray Castle. As Inverliver was travelling with Muriel, he was pursued by Muriel’s paternal uncles, Alexander and Hugh Calder, who had a superior force. The two sides engaged in a battle at Daltullich, in which there was considerable loss of life. Among those killed were six or eight of Campbell of Inverliver’s sons. Despite this, Campbell of Inverliver was able to escape with Muriel, leaving a fake child behind to distract her uncles.

The conflict between the Clan Calder and Clan Campbell did not end with the Battle of Daltullich. A legal fight ensued over the succession to the chiefship of Clan Calder, with Muriel’s uncles trying to have her set aside in favor of a male heir. The dispute was eventually settled in 1503, when Muriel was declared the rightful heiress to the chiefship.