Editing South Uist (section)

=== Lordships ===

[[File:Howmore 20090609 St Mary's Church.jpg|thumb|left|The remains of the late 13th-century parish church]]
In the 13th century, despite Edgar's [[Quitclaim deed|quitclaim]], Scottish forces attempted to restore parts of Suðreyjar to Scotland, culminating in the [[Battle of Largs]]. In 1266, the matter was settled by the [[Treaty of Perth]], which acknowledged the whole of Suðreyjar to Scotland, in exchange for a  compensatory sum of money.{{refn|group="note"|4,000 marks}} The Treaty expressly preserved the status of the rulers of Suðreyjar; the MacRory lands, excepting Bute, Arran, and Jura, became the ''Lordship of [[Garmoran]]'', a quasi-independent crown dependency. Following this, the Norse longhouses were gradually abandoned, in favour of new [[Blackhouse]]s{{refn|group="note"|in which the space was shared with livestock,<ref>Smith, H., Marshall, P. and Parker Pearson, M. 2001. Reconstructing house activity areas pp. 249-270. In Albarella, U (ed) Environmental Archaeology: Meaning and Purpose. Kluwer Academic Publishers.</ref>}} and a new parish church was built at Howmore for South Uist.{{refn|group="note"|Now called ''the big church'' (''Teampall Mòr'' in Gaelic)}}

At the turn of the century, [[William I of Scotland|William I]] had created the position of [[Sheriff of Inverness]], to be responsible for the Scottish highlands, which now extended to Garmoran.<ref>Dickinson W.C., ''The Sheriff Court Book of Fife'', Scottish History Society, Third Series, Vol. XII (Edinburgh 1928), pp. 357–360</ref><ref>''The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707'', K.M. Brown et al eds (St Andrews, 2007-2017), 15 July 1476</ref> In 1293, however, king [[John Balliol]] established the [[Sheriffdom of Skye]], which included the Outer Hebrides. Nevertheless, following his usurpation, the Skye sheriffdom ceased to be mentioned,{{refn|group="note"|in surviving records, at least}} and the Garmoran lordship (including Uist) was confirmed to [[Ruaidhrí Mac Ruaidhrí|the MacRory leader]]. In 1343, King [[David II of Scotland|David II]] issued a further charter for this to [[Raghnall Mac Ruaidhrí|the latter's son]].<ref>''Regesta Regum Scottorum VI'' ed. Bruce Webster (Edinburgh 1982) no. 73.</ref>

[[File:Drimsdale black houses - geograph.org.uk - 242645.jpg|thumb|Blackhouses in Howmore]]
Just three years later{{refn|group="note"|1346}} the sole surviving MacRory heir was [[Amy of Garmoran]]. The southern parts of the Kingdom of the Isles had become the ''[[Lordship of the Isles]]'', ruled by the [[Clan Donald|MacDonald]]s (another group of Somerled's descendants). Amy married the MacDonald leader, [[John of Islay, Lord of the Isles|John of Islay]], but a decade later he divorced her, and married the king's niece instead (in return for a substantial [[dowry]]). As part of the divorce, John deprived his eldest son, [[Ranald MacDonald (founder of Clanranald)|Ranald]], of the ability to inherit the Lordship of the Isles, in favour of a son by his new wife. As compensation, John granted Lordship of Uist to Ranald's younger brother Godfrey, while making Ranald Lord of the remainder of Garmoran.

However, on Ranald's death, disputes between Godfrey and his nephews (the elder of whom founded [[Clan Ranald]]) led to an enormous amount of violent feuding. In 1427, frustrated with the level of violence in the Highlands, [[James I of Scotland|King James I]] demanded that Highland leaders should attend a meeting at [[Inverness]]. On arrival, many of the leaders were seized and imprisoned; Alexander MacGorrie, son of Godfrey, was considered to be one of the two most reprehensible, and after a quick [[show trial]], was immediately executed.<ref name="G65">{{Citation | author1=Gregory, Donald | title=History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland, from A.D. 1493 to A.D. 1625, with a brief introductory sketch, from A.D. 80 to A.D. 1493 | publisher=Edinburgh, W. Tait | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DaoHAAAAQAAJ | access-date=11 May 2012 | year=1836 }}, p. 65</ref> King James declared the Lordship of Uist forfeit.