HARLAW, BATTLE OF. From the beginning of the 12th c. to the beginning of the 14th c., the power and territory of the Celtic tribes in Scotland steadily gave way before the encroachments of the Anglo-Normans of the Lowlands. But during the long wars of the succession, and the feeble reigns of the first and second Stuart kings, the Celtic people regained so much of what they had lost, that, strengthened by alliances with England, they began to be regarded with alarm by the Scottish government. A trial of strength seemed inevitable, and it was precipitated by a dispute as to the right of succession to the earldom of Ross, between Donald lord of the Isles and a brother of the regent Albany. The island chief, gathering a host of 10,000 Islesmen and Highlanders, marched rapidly southwards, leaving havoc and desolation behind him.' The rich city of Aberdeen, and the whole country to the D. of the Tay, seemed to be within his grasp, when he was encountered by a vastly inferior force of the chivalry and men .at-arms of Mar, Garioeh, Buchan, Angus and Mearns, under Alexander Stewart, earl of Mar, one of the best captains of the day, familiar in his youth with the usages of Highland warfare, and more recently distinguished in the wars of France, and Flanders. armies met on the eve of St.. James (July 24), 1411, at Harlaw, low table-land on the banks of the Ury, about 18 m. to the n.w. of Aberdeen. The
battle was long and bloody, but the Highlanders were at last driven back. They left two chiefs-3Iaelean and Macintosh—and more than 900 dead upon the field. The loss upon the other side was computed at 500 or GOO, among whom were the constable of Dundee, hereditary bearer of the royal banner, sir Alexander Irvine of Drum, and other knights, many of the best esquires of Angus and Mearns, nearly all the gentry of Buchan, and Robert Davidson, the provost, and many of the burghers of Aberdeen. So obstinate and sanguinary was the struggle, and so were the Lowlanders out numbered, that few of them escaped without a wound. The conflict !nude a deep and lasting impression on the national mind. For more than a hundred years, the battle of Harlaw continued to be fought over•again by school-boys in their play. For more than two hundred years it was remembered in the music of the people. It lived still longer in their traditions; and it is not yet forgotten in their poetry. It is the subject of a still popular ballad, written, it would seem, towards the end of the 16th c., printed at least as early as 1608, reprinted in Allan Ramsay's Evergreen in 1724, and included in most subsequent collections of Scottish ballads. Scott, in his Antiquary, has com memorated " the sair field of Harlaw " in a fine fragment of song.