Editing Outer Hebrides (section)

=== Scots rule ===
[[File:Kisimul Castle.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kisimul Castle]], the ancient seat of [[Clan MacNeil]], [[Castlebay]], [[Barra]]]]

As the Norse era drew to a close the [[Old Norse|Norse-speaking]] princes were gradually replaced by Gaelic-speaking [[Scottish clan|clan]] chiefs including the [[Clan MacLeod|MacLeods]] of Lewis and Harris, the [[Clan Donald|MacDonalds]] of the [[Uist]]s and [[Clan MacNeil|MacNeil of Barra]].<ref name="Thompson 1968 39"/><ref>Rotary Club (1995) pp. 27, 30</ref>{{#tag:ref|The transitional relationships between Norse and Gaelic-speaking rulers are complex. The ''{{lang|gd|[[Norse–Gaels|Gall-Ghàidhels]]}}'' who dominated much of the Irish Sea region and western Scotland at this time were of joint Gaelic and Scandinavian origin. When Somerled wrested the southern Inner Hebrides from [[Godred II Olafsson|Godred the Black]] in 1156, this was the beginnings of a break with nominal Norse rule in the Hebrides. Godred remained the ruler of Mann and the Outer Hebrides, but two years later Somerled's invasion of the former caused him to flee to Norway. Norse control was further weakened in the ensuring century, but the Hebrides were not formally ceded by Norway until 1266.<ref>Gregory (1881) pp.&nbsp;13–15, 20-21</ref><ref>Downham (2007) pp.&nbsp;174–75.</ref> The transitions from one language to another are also complex. For example, many Scandinavian sources from this period of time typically refer to individuals as having a Scandinavian first name and a Gaelic by-name.<ref>Gammeltoft, Peder "Scandinavian Naming-Systems in the Hebrides: A Way of Understanding how the Scandinavians were in Contact with Gaels and Picts?" in Ballin Smith ''et al'' (2007) p. 480</ref>|group="Note"}} This transition did little to relieve the islands of internecine strife although by the early 14th century the MacDonald [[Lord of the Isles|Lords of the Isles]], based on [[Islay]], were in theory these chiefs' feudal superiors and managed to exert some control.<ref>Hunter (2000) pp. 127, 166</ref>

The growing threat that Clan Donald posed to the Scottish crown led to the forcible dissolution of the Lordship of the Isles by [[James IV of Scotland|James IV]] in 1493, but although the king had the power to subdue the organised military might of the Hebrides, he and his immediate successors lacked the will or ability to provide an alternative form of governance.<ref>Hunter (2000) p. 143</ref> The [[House of Stuart]]'s attempts to control the Outer Hebrides were then at first desultory and little more than punitive expeditions. In 1506 the [[Marquess of Huntly|Earl of Huntly]] besieged and captured Stornoway Castle using cannon. In 1540 [[James V of Scotland|James V]] himself conducted a royal tour, forcing the clan chiefs to accompany him. There followed a period of peace, but all too soon the clans were at loggerheads again.<ref>Thompson (1968) pp.&nbsp;40–41</ref>

In 1598 King [[James VI of Scotland|James VI]] authorised some "[[Fife Adventurers|Gentleman Adventurers" from Fife]] to civilise the "most barbarous Isle of Lewis". Initially successful, the colonists were driven out by local forces commanded by Murdoch and Neil MacLeod, who based their forces on {{lang|gd|[[Bearasaigh]]}} in {{lang|gd|Loch Ròg}}. The colonists tried again in 1605 with the same result but a third attempt in 1607 was more successful, and in due course Stornoway became a [[Burgh of barony|Burgh of Barony]].<ref>Rotary Club (1995) pp.&nbsp;12–13</ref><ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 312</ref> By this time Lewis was held by the Mackenzies of Kintail, (later the [[Earl of Seaforth|Earls of Seaforth]]), who pursued a more enlightened approach, investing in fishing in particular. The historian W. C. MacKenzie was moved to write:<ref>Thompson (1968) p. 41. It is not clear from the text which of MacKenzie's five books quoted in the bibliography spanning the years 1903–52 the quote is taken from.</ref>

{{ blockquote
| At the end of the 17th century, the picture we have of Lewis that of a people pursuing their avocation in peace, but not in plenty. The Seaforths&nbsp;..., besides establishing orderly Government in the island.. had done a great deal to rescue the people from the slough of ignorance and incivility in which they found themselves immersed. But in the sphere of economics their policy apparently was of little service to the community.
}}

The Seaforth's royalist inclinations led to Lewis becoming garrisoned during the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] by [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell's]] troops, who destroyed the old castle in Stornoway and in 1645 Lewismen fought on the royalist side at the [[Battle of Auldearn]].<ref name=R42>Thompson (1968) pp.&nbsp;41–42</ref> A new era of Hebridean involvement in the affairs of the wider world was about to commence.