Some time ago I met an old lady called MacLaren (MacLaurin) in her late eighties who told me that she had gone to school with a MacGregor. They had only spoken to each other when absolutely necessary.

They had lived close to each other, gone to the same school, been in the same class, and attended the same Sunday school and Church. They had gone to most of the events which occurred and even had mutual relatives. They didn’t dislike each other, as both shared some common interests. However, they did not socialize, and the reasons lie in their surnames, and goes back three or more hundred years!

In Upper Strathyre and along the Braes of Balquhidder in bordering Strathearn, the MacLarens had lived for centuries before the MacGregors came to set up their stables there. They, like all the clans in the regions, raided each other for cattle and other material possessions. Sometimes the booty was good, but sometimes they came back with a bloody nose.

The MacGregors, on the other hand, had been driven out of their original lands around Loch Awe by the Campbells, and had come as incomers into Western Strathearn and Strathyre. No sooner, however, had they arrived but they adopted a policy of “what is yours is mine, and what is mine is my own!” Their intent was to create as much havoc as possible to anyone within the length of their claymores, and grab as much as possible. They fell out with the Stewarts of Ardvorlich, the Drummonds of Muthill, the Murrays of Ochtertyre, the MacDonalds of Glencoe, the Buchanans of the Lennox, and the Colquhouns of Luss. They fell out with the Campbell, the Duke of Argyll, and Graham, the Duke of Montrose, and even the King. Diplomacy came with the dirk or broadsword!

Throughout time there had always been a strong bond between the MacLarens and the Stewarts of Appin and Ardvorlich. Each swore to come to the assistance of the other in times of need, especially when the MacGregors were involved. By extension, others from Strathearn who were allied with the Stewarts, joined in because, they too, were anxious about the warlike MacGregors. The union between the Stewarts and the MacLarens had been cemented when Sir John Stewart of Lorn, although married, passed a pleasant evening with a daughter of MacLaren of Ardveich. One might infer it was a night of unholy wedlock. A child, Dugald, was subsequently born, and he became in time Chief of the Stewarts. This occurred when Sir John’s wife died in 1463 and sent word to his lady in Ardveich that she and her son join him at Dunstaffnage Castle for the wedding. No doubt it was a merry affair, and was only marred by the fact that the bridegroom-to-be was stabbed to death as he walked across the chapel lawn to the ceremony. This called for some hasty action, and the ceremony was hurried through with Sir John’s last act being to slip the ring on to the bride’s finger, before expiring. His assailant was Alan MacDougall who coveted the Stewart lands of Lorn.

Later Dugald avenged his father’s death at the battle of Stalc when he creamed a combined MacDougall and MacFarlane force. Dugald Stewart after a “normal” life was sadly killed after a cattle raid in Lochaber. He was returning from a cattle raid when they were attacked by the MacDonalds of Keppoch. The MacDonalds had been somewhat put out because the stolen cattle was theirs! It was not recorded where they originally acquired the cattle!

Pride and precedence were endemic in highland communities and Highland Strathearn was no exception. The MacLarens insisted, nay demanded, that due to their numbers and longevity in the area, they should be allowed to enter Balquhidder Church first, and be seated before others came in and took their places in the pews. This caused a lot of distress, and outright rage to the MacGregors, the “Children of the Mist.” It was not uncommon for brawls to break out during and after the sermons preached and church attendance was not particularly safe. In 1532, the minister at Balquhidder Church, Sir John MacLaurin, was murdered at a Church service when trying to keep the enraged MacGregor and MacLaurin parties apart. He hoped to restore order and peace between them. He would, perhaps, have been more successful at whistling in the wind or of walking across Loch Earn! Modern man does not seem to share the same passion for church attendance. This incident created a vendetta between the factions.

Old Church at Balquhidder