or illegitimate, or had merely been
set aside, for they were not called to the chief succession, as a
stipulation of the connection with the royal family, to whom the
others were particularly obnoxious; or, as has been conjectured, from
the relationship of the parents being thought too much within the
forbidden degrees. The power of John seems to have been singularly
great. By successive grants of Robert Bruce to his father, and of
David II., Baliol, and Robert II., to himself, he appears to have been
in possession or superior of almost the whole western coasts and
islands....

'The inordinate power of these island princes was gradually broken
down by the Scottish monarchs in the course of the fifteenth and early
part of the sixteenth century. On the death of John, Lord of the Isles
and Earl of Ross, grandson of Donald, Hugh of Sleat, John's nearest
brother and his descendants became rightful representatives of the
family, and so continue. Claim to the title of Lord of the Isles was
made by Donald, great-grandson of Hugh of Sleat; but James V. refused
to restore the title, deeming its suppression advisable for the peace
of the country.'

At the close of the sixteenth century, when Bacon was writing his
_Essays_, and Shakspeare his _Hamlet_, this remote part of the country
was the scene of bloody feuds between semi-barbarous chieftains. A
battle, with from one to two thousand men on each side, took place in
Islay in 1598. The power of the Islay Macdonalds ultimately passed
into the hands of the Campbells, who have since been the ascendant
family in these insular regions.

'The remains of the strongholds of the Macdonalds in Islay are the
following:--In Loch Finlagan, a lake about three miles in
circumference, three miles from Port Askaig, and a mile off the road
to Loch-in-Daal, on the right hand, on an islet, are the ruins of
their principal castle or palace and chapel; and on an adjoining
island the Macdonald council held their meetings. There are traces of
a pier, and of the habitations of the guards on the shore. A large
stone was, till no very distant period, to be seen, on which Macdonald
stood, when crowned, by the Bishop of Argyle, King of the Isles. On an
island, in a similar lake, Loch Guirm, to the west of Loch-in-Daal,
are the remains of a strong square fort, with round corner towers; and
towards the head of Loch-in-Daal, on the same side, are vestiges of
another dwelling and pier.

'Where are thy p