Editing North Uist (section)

====Mary MacLeod====
[[File:Struan Cottage, Malacleit - geograph.org.uk - 1523227.jpg|thumb|Traditional cottage on Uist]]
After the deaths of Alastair Crotach and his son William in quick succession (1547, and 1553, respectively), Alastair's heir was his young granddaughter, Mary MacLeod. Donald Gormson, Donald Gorm's son<!--this is not a duplication-->, took the opportunity to seize Sleat and North Uist. The [[James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault#Regent of Scotland|Earl of Arran]], regent to [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], assigned nominal [[Tenant-in-chief#Heirs|feudal wardship]] of her to the [[Earl of Huntly]], who himself proposed to sell it to the [[Earl of Argyll]]. Following Arran's death in 1554, [[Mary of Guise]] was appointed regent for her daughter and issued Argyll and Huntly with a [[Commission of Justiciary#Commission of fire and sword|"commission of fire and sword"]] against Donald Gormson and Clan Ranald, instructing the earls to pursue their "utter extermination".

However, the forces of the Earl of Huntly had previously been defeated by Clan Ranald at the [[Battle of the Shirts]], which made them reluctant to enter Clan Ranald territory; the Earl abandoned the pursuit, but was promptly imprisoned by Mary of Guise for doing so. Three years later, the [[Lords of the Congregation]], the Earl of Argyll among them, emerged as an organised resistance to the Queen Regent. By 1562, the Earl of Huntly, now released, was in outright opposition to Queen Mary, and died opposing her at the [[Battle of Corrichel]]. In 1565 the tables turned when Donald Gormson took the queen's side during the [[Chaseabout Raid]] and was consequently back in royal favour.

On 4 March 1567{{refn|group="note"|1566 [[Julian Calendar|old-style]]}} Donald Gormson and the Earl of Argyll drew up a contract, according to which:
*Donald Gormson would enter a bond of [[manrent]] to the Earl of Argyll
*Donald Gormson would provide military aid to Mary MacLeod's uncle, on demand from the Earl of Argyll
*Mary MacLeod would quitclaim her rights to Sleat and North Uist in return for 500 marks, to be paid by Donald Gormson
*The Earl of Argyll would persuade Queen Mary to grant him a charter for those lands, and [[subinfeudation|subinfeudate]] them to Donald Gormson, in return for 1000 marks