Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. INVERNESS-SHIRE DURING THE SCOTTISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE—EDWARD I. OF ENGLAND IN THE NORTH—THE CASTLE OF URQUHART A STRONGHOLD OF THE PATRIOTIC PARTY—RANDOLPH, EARL OF MORAY—HIS VIGOROUS RULE—DAVID II. AT INVERNESS—GREAT SOCIAL CHANGES IN THE COUNTY—ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CLAN SYSTEM—THE FRASERS, GRANTS, CHISHOLMS, CAMERONS, AND OTHERS BECOME HEADS OF CLANS—THE CLAN SYSTEM IN THE MAIN A DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORMAN POLITY — THE FIRST NOTICE IN HISTORY OF THE CLANS CONNECTED WITH INVERNESS-SHIRE — FEUD BETWEEN THE CLAN CHATTAN AND THE CLAN CAMERON—BATTLE OF INVERNAHAVON — CONFLICT ON THE INCH OF PERTH. The county of Inverness was not affected to the same extent as other parts of Scotland by the long struggle which issued in the independence of the kingdom. It was far away from the great scenes of conflict, and the contending armies which traversed other counties left its soil almost untrodden. The great territorial lords among whom the shire was partitioned had indeed to take part in the national conflict, and, as far as we can learn from the annals of the time, they were on the patriotic side. A. John of Glen- urquhart and a son of John of the Aird were among the prisoners taken by the English after the battle of Dunbar (1296). Andrew Moray, son of Sir Andrew Moray of Petty near Inverness, and of Avoch in Ross, was a close companion of Sir William Wallace, and represented his interest among the Highlanders. David, Bishop of Moray, was a chief supporter of King Robert Bruce, and preached throughout his diocese a crusade in his favour. Names well known in after-years in the history of Inverness-shire appear in the historic narrative. A Simon Fraser, a John Cambron, and a Mackintosh are named among the followers of the Scottish monarch. At Bannockburn, it is said, as man...