Where the whisky flows like water

ISLAY HAS A LONG HISTORY. MAIRI MACDONALD GOES BACK TO THE ISLE OF HER ANCESTORS

From the Islay base on Eilean Mor in Loch Finlaggan, the Lords of the Isles ruled the west of Scotland and most of the islands for more than 300 years.

They were a powerful dynasty and they were MacDonalds, descendants of the original Lord of the Isles, Somerled MacGillebride. That is, until 1493, when title and lands were stripped from them due to their independent attitude to the Scottish crown.

The land was divided up by John, First Lord of the Isles into the clans that we are familiar with – Sleat, Clanranald, Glengarry, Glencoe and Keppoch.

I am a Keppoch and I have always known that but I didn't know about the Lord of the Isles, Finlaggan and the rest until I found myself on the flight to Islay and chanced to sit next to a man who not only enlightened me of my Islay roots but also informed me that he was my cousin.

Our Islay ancestor was Alasdair Carrach the youngest son of John, First Lord of the Isles by the second wife, Lady Margaret Stewart, daughter of the highest steward of Scotland, after King Robert II of Scotland.

But this is a fairly modern Islay. The rich and fertile land of this southernmost Hebridean isle has been inhabited since the Stone Age. These earlier settlers left behind chambered burial cairns and “kitchen middens”.

The numerous standing stones on the island are dated from the Bronze Age when people from south-western Europe are believed to have settled on the island.

The Celts arrived between 200BC and 500 AD and then between the seco...

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• By : Mairi MacDonald
• In : Destinations
• Issue : 10
• Page : 54
• Words : 1,431