About the beginning of the fourteenth century, Reginald or Ronald Cheyne, a celebrated chieftain, held great sway in Caithness. The Cheynes were, it appears, of Norman extraction, and came to Scotland in quest of better fortune, with the Sinclairs and other chiefs who had followed the standard of William the Conqueror. The principal residence of the Cheynes was the old castle of Inverugie, in the parish of St Fergus, Aberdeenshire. They became proprietors of the whole of that parish, as well as of other landed estates in the counties of Banff and Moray. In the old statistical account of St Fergus, mention is made of a Sir Reginald Cheyne, who married a daughter of Cumming of Badenoch. By her he had two sons, Reginald Cheyne, who in 1267 was promoted to the office of Lord Chamberlain of Scotland, and Henry Cheyne, who was elected Bishop of Aberdeen in 1281. A branch of this family seems early to have settled in Caithness. [The lands in Caithness seem to have been conferred on the Cheynes by charter from David II. The name, as originally spelt in Norman French, was Du Chesyne.] Reginald Cheyne, the subject of our notice, had a very extensive property in it. He inherited also from his mother, who was the only daughter and co-heiress of Freskyn de Moray, the manor and castle of Duffus, with other lands in Morayshire. Among other possessions in Caithness, the castle and lands of Auldwick belonged to him. But being extremely fond of the chase, he frequently resided in the upper part of the parish of Halkirk, in a castle, or rather hunting-lodge, situated at the north corner of Loch-more, just at the point where the river of Thurso issues from it. In the old statistical account of Halkirk, it is said that he had "a chest, or some kind of a machine fixed in the mouth of the stream below the castle for catching salmon in their ingress into the loch or their egress out of it; and that immediately on the fish being entangled in the machine, the capture was announced to the whole family by the ringing of a bell, which the motions and struggles of the fish set agoing by means of a cord fixed at one end to the bell in the middle of an upper room, and at the other end to the machine in the stream below." In this stronghold, Morar na Shean, or the great Cheyne as he was styled by the Celtic inhabitants of the district, kept about him a number of retainers, lived in great feudal pomp, and chiefly employed his time in hunting, for which he had ample room and verge enough in the highlands of Caithness. Cheyne was altogether a remarkable man in his day. He was one of the Scottish chiefs and barons who, in the parliament held at Arbroath in 1320, drew up the spirited remonstrance to the Pope on the national independence of Scotland in church and state. He was also present at the disastrous battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, with Kenneth, Earl of Sutherland. The Earl was slain, and Cheyne was taken prisoner by the English, but, after a short captivity, he was released, when he returned to Caithness and soon after married a young lady of considerable talent and beauty, a descendant of one of the old Scandinavian prefects or governors of the district. Tradition has handed down many strange anecdotes of this Nimrod of the North. The following, which is believed to be strictly founded in truth, is one of the most remarkable and interesting. Being the last representative of his family in the male line, he was extremely anxious to have an heir to inherit his large property. The first child which his lady had was a daughter. This disappointment exasperated him so much that he gave imperative orders to drown the infant. Lady Cheyne, however, by means of a faithful domestic, managed to convey the child away to a nurse. The second child, which was also a daughter, was preserved in the same manner. After this she bore no more children. The circumstance was a source of bitter disappointment to Cheyne, who could not help viewing it as a punishment inflicted upon him for the crime of which he had been guilty; and he began to have some compunctions of remorse, which neither the sophistry of his confessor nor yet the riot of the festive board could allay. In the meantime, the two female children grew up and prospered, and received the best education that the county at the time could afford. After a lapse of eighteen years, Lady Cheyne, with the concurrence of her husband, got up a grand entertainment at Christmas, to which all their friends and acquaintances throughout the county were invited. Among the female guests on this occasion were two young ladies, whose extraordinary beauty and elegance of manners excited the admiration of the company. Reginald in particular was greatly struck with their appearance, and as he had never seen them before, he asked his wife whose daughters they were? After some little hesitation, she said they were his own. This unexpected announcement affected him so much that, for a minute or two, he could not articulate a word. When he had recovered, he embraced his two daughters with the most affectionate tenderness, and finally gave way to his pent-up feelings in a flood of tears.

Having no male heir, Cheyne, before his death in 1350, divided his estate between his two daughters, whose names were Marjory and Mary. In 1337, Nicholas, second son of the Earl of Sutherland, and ancestor of the Barons of Duffus, married Marjory, and thus became proprietor of the lands of Auldwick in this county. The property was afterwards successively occupied by the Oliphants, by the Earls of Caithness, and by Lord Glenorchy. Glenorchy sold the castle and lands to Dunbar of Hempriggs, and finally, by the marriage of Sir James Sutherland, second son of Lord Duffus, with Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Dunbar of Hempriggs, they became the property of the present Sir George Dunbar, the lineal male representative of Nicholas Sutherland and Marjory Cheyne. Mary, the other daughter, was married to John, second son of Edward Keith, the Marischal, and her son, Andrew, in right of his mother, became possessed of the lands of Ackergill. By the same right he also obtained the castle of Inverugie and the estate connected with it. The family of the Keiths were among the most powerful in Scotland. They had extensive property in the south; and their residence, when in this county, was the Tower of Ackergill. [Sir George Dunbar, the proprietor, Las lately erected a splendid new mansion, with which the old tower is finely incorporated. He has made many other admirable improvements about the place; and Ackergill Tower, which name it still retains, is now one of the finest gentlemen's seats in the north.] It is not known when this formidable stronghold was erected, but it cannot be less than from four to five hundred years old. In the "Origines Parochiales Scotiae," [Vol. II., Part II.] it is mentioned that in 1538 the castle was granted by James V., with half of the lands of Ackergill, to William Earl Marischal, and Lady Margaret Keith, his wife. And the same authority also states that in 1547 the Queen Regent granted a remission to George, Earl of Caithness and others, "for their treasonable taking and holding of the castle belonging to William Earl Marischal, and for their treasonable taking of Alexander Keith, captain of the castle, and of John Scarlet, his servitor, and detaining them against their will in Girnigoe, Brawl, and other places." The tower— the only part of the old building which remains—stands on a level plain, close by the sea, and is of a rectangular form, measuring about eighty-two feet in height; and in breadth, at each of the angles, forty-five feet. It consists of four storeys, two of which are arched; and the massive walls are from ten to eleven feet in thickness. In the centre of these are arched passages, from three to four feet wide, with slits in the walls for the discharge of arrows and other warlike missiles. On the land side the castle was defended by a deep and broad moat. The winding stair in the inside is so narrow, that even should an enemy have forced the external defences, a resolute retainer or two could have kept a whole host at bay, and prevented them from getting access to the upper storeys. The ground, too, in the vicinity of the castle is low, and before the invention of artillery, it might be considered impregnable. There was, moreover, a draw-well within the tower, twenty-four feet deep, which afforded the inmates a constant supply of water, and nothing but sheer famine could have forced the garrison to surrender. I may here notice a tradition connected with the well. One of the domestics, a black man, is said to have fallen into it, and was drowned. After this accident the water was never used, and the well was shut up.

The Keiths and Gunns occupy a prominent place in the ancient history of Caithness. The latter are of Norwegian origin. Their progenitor was Gunnius or Gunn, brother of Sweyn, the celebrated Freswick pirate." [In the statistical account of Kildonan, in the county of Sutherland, a different origin is assigned to the Clan Gunn. It is therein stated that they were descended from the Norwegian Kings of Man, and that Guin or Gunn, their progenitor, was the eldest son of Olave, king of that island, by his third wife, Christina, daughter of Farquhar, Earl of Ross. On this point, however, we are disposed to place more reliance on the authority of Torfaeus than on that of the Chronicle of Man, from which the Sutherland account of the origin of the race purports to be taken.] This promising youth was banished from Orkney by Wicked Earl Harold for a criminal intrigue with his mother, the infamous Countess of Athole, who, on the death of her husband, had removed to that county. Gunn came over to Caithness, and fixed his residence in Ulbster, in the parish of Wick, where, by turning over a new leaf, he increased so much in wealth and power, that he was called the Great Gunn of Ulbster. His descendants, in process of time, became a numerous race, and assumed the distinctive appellation of the Clan Gunn. They and the Keiths bore a mutual hatred to each other, and were continually at feud. The original quarrel is said to have been caused by the following unhappy occurrence. Lachlan Gunn, a small proprietor in Braemore, had an only daughter, named Helen, who was particularly distinguished for her good looks, and was called the "Beauty of Braemore." The fame of her personal charms had spread through the whole of Sutherland and Caithness. A long and ardent attachment, commencing, it might be said, from childhood, had subsisted between her and her cousin, Alexander Gunn; and the day of their marriage was fixed. About this time Dugald Keith, a retainer of Keith of Acker-gill, and who acted as factor on his property in Caithness, having seen Helen Gunn, was greatly struck with her beauty, and made a dishonourable proposal, which she indignantly rejected. Mortified with this repulse, the proud and unprincipled villain resolved to gratify his passion at all hazards. Accordingly, having mustered a strong party of Keiths, he set out for Braemore, and on the wedding eve surrounded the house of Lachlan, where a few of the relations had met to partake of the festivity usual on such an occasion. The Gunns, who were quite unprepared for such an attack, were, after a brave resistance, mostly all killed; and the young bride was forcibly seized and carried away to Ackergill Tower, where she was kept a prisoner, and became the victim of the brutal and licentious Keith. The unfortunate young woman could not endure the disgrace and misery of her situation. Like another Lucretia, she resolved on self-destruction; and having found an opportunity one evening when the keepers were off their guard, she ascended to the top of the tower, and threw herself headlong from the battlements. This tragical affair inspired the whole clan with implacable resentment against the Keiths, and was the cause of much future strife and bloodshed. As the property of the Gunns lay chiefly in the highlands of the county, they were also frequently at feud with the Mackays of Strathnaver, who were every now and then dashing across the borders and harassing them with their predatory incursions.

1426.—During one of those raids a desperate battle took place between the two clans at Harpsdale, in the parish of Halkirk, about eight miles south of Thurso. Angus Dhu Mackay, or Black Angus as he was called a powerful chieftain, and brother-in-law of Alexander, Lord of the Isles, accompanied by his son Neil, led on the Strathnaver men. The contest was long and obstinate, and attended with much slaughter on both sides, but the result was not decisive.

At this time the whole of Scotland, and particularly the Highlands, was in a fearful state of insubordination. Rapine, robbery, murder, and an utter contempt of the law, prevailed to an alarming extent. James I., who had been released from his captivity in England in 1423, saw with regret and mortification the distracted condition of the country in which he found himself merely a king in name, with hardly any of the power belonging to the regal office. He determined, therefore, to punish the refractory chiefs, and put a check to these disorders. Accordingly, in the year 1427 he set out for Inverness, and on his arrival there summoned the principal northern chiefs to appear before him, including Angus Dhu Mackay, who had, so recently distinguished himself in the affair at Harpsdale. The greater part of them obeyed the royal mandate, and repaired to Inverness. Those who were most conspicuous for their crimes, and defiance of lawful authority, were executed. Angus Dhu Mackay was imprisoned, but shortly afterwards liberated, on agreeing to give up his son Neil Mackay, as a hostage for his future good behaviour. Neil was accordingly sent to the Bass, in the mouth of the Firth of Forth, then the state prison of Scotland, and from that circumstance was called Neil Bass Mackay. Neil was detained there in durance till the year 1437, when he acquired his freedom, chiefly through the influence of Sir Robert Lauder, governor of the prison, who was married to a relation of his. But no sooner did Neil set foot in Strathnaver than he assembled his followers, entered Caithness, and spoiled the county. The Mackays were met by the Caithness men at Sandside, in the parish of Reay. After a fierce encounter, the latter were defeated, and pursued to Downreay. This conflict was called, par excellence, the "Chase of Sandside."

The warfare was still carried on between the two rival clans —the Keiths and the Gunns; and in the year 1438, they had an engagement on a larger scale than usual. Having heard that the Gunns had got a number of the other inhabitants of Caithness to join them, and were preparing for an immediate attack, Keith of Ackergill, mistrustful of his own strength, applied for aid to Angus Mackay, son of the famous Neil Bass Mackay, who readily complied with the request, and having assembled all the able-bodied of his followers, made a hurried march of about thirty miles through Caithness to assist his friend. The hostile armies met on the moor of Tannach. about three miles from Wick, where a furious conflict ensued, attended with great slaughter on both sides. In the end the Keiths obtained the victory, chiefly through the extraordinary prowess of a herculean Highlander, who rejoiced in the euphonious appellation of John More-Macean-Reawich-Mackay. This battle, however, did not terminate hostilities between the two contending parties. The feud continued for a long time after, during which they strove to harass and inflict as much injury on each other as possible.

About the middle of the fifteenth century, the chief of the Clan Gunn was George Gunn, who lived in great feudal pomp in his castle of Haberry, at Clyth, in the parish of Latheron. This George was a man of commanding influence in the county at the time, and exercised the office of Crowner, from which circumstance he was commonly known by the title of Crowner, or Cruner Gunn. [According to Jamieson, the Crowner in Scotland was an officer to whom it belonged to attach all persons against whom there was an accusation in matters pertaining to the Crown. He had also the charge of the troops raised in the county. Proof of the existence of the office cocurs in the reign of David the Second.] By the Highlanders he was called "N'm Braistach-more," from a great silver brooch which he wore as the badge or cognizance of his office.

Wearied out at length with the long-continued sanguinary strife, the Crowner and the chief of the Keiths agreed to meet with twelve horsemen on each side, and settle all their differences amicably in a conference; or, if they could not effect a reconciliation in that way, to decide the quarrel at once on the spot in fair and equal combat. To invest the matter with more solemnity, the meeting was appointed to take place at the Chapel of St Tears—or as it was vulgarly called St Tayre. This religious edifice, of which not a vestige now remains, was situated half way between Castles Sinclair and Girnigoe and the Tower of Ackergill. It was dedicated to the holy tears shed by the mothers at Bethlehem over their children that were slain by the command of Herod, and was held in great veneration by the inhabitants of the district. Nor did this veneration cease for a long time even after the Protestant religion was fully established in the county. "It was customary for people," says the writer of the new statistical account of Wick, "to visit the Chapel of St Tears on Innocents' Day, and leave in it bread and cheese as an offering to the souls of the children slain by Herod, but which the dog-keeper of a neighbouring gentleman used to take out and give to the hounds."