Battle of Aldy Charrish

Battle of Aldy Charrish
Part of the Scottish clan wars
Clan crest badges of Clan Mackay (left) and Clan Ross (right)
Date 11 July 1487, possibly 1486 or 1478 Location Near Strathoykel, Sutherland grid reference NH4897Coordinates: 57°56′30″N 4°33′35″W / 57.94167°N 4.55972°W / 57.94167; -4.55972 Result Mackay/Sutherland victory
Belligerents
Clan Mackay Clan Sutherland (according to one source)	Clan Ross Wasses and Wauses
Commanders and leaders
John Riabhach Mackay Robert Sutherland	Alexander Ross of Balnagown
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	"a great number"

The Battle of Aldy Charrish (also known as the Battle of Auldicharish, Aldicharrish, Aldecharwis, Alt a'Charrais, Alt Charrais, Alt na Charrais) was a Scottish clan battle that took place on 11 July 1487. The Clan Mackay and possibly the Clan Sutherland defeated the Clan Ross and their allies in the Scottish Highlands, probably on the south side of Strathoykel.

The Battle of Auldicharish was part of an ongoing feud between the Clan Mackay and Clan Ross. Just one year before Angus Mackay of Strathnaver, chief of the Clan Mackay had been killed and defeated at the Battle of Tarbat by Alexander Ross of Balnagowan, chief of the Clan Ross. Angus Mackay's son John Mackay returned a year later to attack the Rosses in revenge for the death of his father.

According to 17th-century historian Sir Robert Gordon, who was a younger son of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, the Clan Sutherland joined the side of the Clan Mackay at this battle. However, 19th-century historian Angus Mackay disputes the Sutherland's presence at the battle stating that it would be unlikely that the Earl of Sutherland at the time would have assisted against the Rosses as he was married to a daughter of the Ross chief of Balnagowan, and also that the feudal superiority of the Sutherlands over the Mackays "nowhere existed save in his own fertile imagination".

Most sources follow Gordon in giving the date of the battle as 11 July 1487. The Calendar of Fearn puts it in June 1486. Mackay dates the Battle of Tarbat to 1475 and "Allta-charrish" to 1478 or "a few years after".

The location of the battle remains elusive. Most sources say that it took place in Strathoykel or Strathcarron. Whilst some interpret the latter as the River Carron in Wester Ross, it is more likely to be the Carron in Sutherland, that lies immediately south of the Oykel. Mackinnon's map locates it on the banks of the lower Carron, between Braelangwell and Invercharron. The most probable location is the Allt a'Charraigh (grid reference NH4897), a burn between Braelangwell and Rosehall that flows into the Kilmachalmack Burn on the Strathoykel side of Meall Dheirgidh.

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Wikipedia