The Battle of Lagganmore, 1646

The Battle of Lagganmore was a significant event in the Scottish Civil War and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It took place in 1646 at Lagganmore in Glen Euchar, west of Loch Scammadale, and was fought largely between Highland clansmen. The battle was a part of a long-running feud between Clan MacDonald and Clan Campbell, and incorporated a larger objective of recovering ancestral lands in Kintyre and elsewhere from which the Clan Donald South had been driven by the pro-government Clan Campbell.

The Royalist forces of Alasdair Mac Colla, supported by men of Clan MacDougall and Clan MacAulay, defeated the pro-government forces of the Campbells who were supported by Clan MacCallum. Mac Colla and a group of Irish professional soldiers were sent to Scotland in June 1644 by Confederate Ireland, ostensibly to aid the Royalist party there, at the instigation of the Earl of Antrim. Mac Colla joined with the Royalist Lord Montrose and fought a successful campaign against the Scottish government in 1644–5.

The location and scale of Lagganmore meant that little was recorded in contemporary written sources. Most of what is known about the battle is derived from local folklore, however, most of the traditions are fairly consistent with each other. Campbells were attacked by the Royalist advance guard and routed, while their leaders Lochnell and Bragleen were captured and escaped later. Another landowner Zachary MacCallum, or Malcolm, of Poltalloch also joined the battle, his death was placed in different places in different traditions.

The battle is notorious, in the folklore of the area, for an atrocity purportedly committed by the Royalist forces in its aftermath. Mac Colla’s men were claimed to have driven a number of prisoners from the battle, along with Campbell women and children from the district, into a barn which was then set alight. Only two women (or alternatively one woman and Campbell of Bragleen) were said to have escaped from what became known as Sabhal nan Cnamh, the “Barn of Bones”. The massacre was part of a series of revenge-driven atrocities committed by both sides in the conflict.

The Battle of Lagganmore was a significant event in Scottish history, marking a turning point in the Scottish Civil War and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It was fought between two powerful Highland clans, the MacDonalds and the Campbells, and was part of a larger objective of recovering ancestral lands. The battle was well-known for its brutality and the atrocities committed by both sides. It is a reminder of the violence and bloodshed that characterized this period of Scottish history and the deep-seated conflicts between rival clans.