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Alltacoileachan
Battle Site (16th Century)
Site Name Alltacoileachan
Classification Battle Site (16th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Glenlivet
Canmore ID 16298
Site Number NJ22NW 3
NGR NJ 248 294
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/16298
- Council Moray
- Parish Inveravon
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Moray
- Former County Banffshire
On the 3rd of October 1594, near Muckle Tomlach, the Roman Catholic Earls of Huntly and Errol, commanding a force of only 1500 horsemen, defeated the Protestant royalist army led by the Earl of Argyll. Records appear to suggest that Argyll led a force of around 6,000 into battle.
Huntly's victory at Alltacoileachan is partly due to his possession of six small artillery pieces, but the treachery of John Grant of Gartenberg, an ally of Argyll, must also have been a significant factor. Despite the long-standing enmity between his own family and the Gordons, John Grant struck a secret agreement with Huntly, and led the Grant forces away from the fighting.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
NJ22NW 3 248 294.
(NJ 248 294) Site of Battle of Alltacoileachan (NR) AD. 1594.
OS 6"map, Banffshire, 2nd ed., (1905)
The Earl of Argyll opposed the Roman Catholic Earls of Huntly and Errol and was heavily defeated at the battle of Glenlivet, or Altachoylachan (NSA 1845), in October, 1594.
New Statistical Account (NSA, written by Rev W Asher - 1836) 1845; W C Dickinson 1961.
No further information.
Visited by OS (R L) 24 August 1966.
Field Visit (December 2020)
NJ 234 285 A desktop and walkover survey and a metal-detecting survey was conducted in December 2020 for a new road in an area of proposed woodland of c100 hectares. Work revealed no finds in the area of the proposed road. The area proposed for forestry lies in an area designated in the National Inventory as part of the battlefield of Glenlivet dating to 1594 (Canmore ID 16298). Although the landscape topography of the area surveyed is on a slight north-facing slope to the S of the Alltacoileachan burn, the area surveyed is not consistent to the description of the battle, which places it to the NE outwith the area of study. One archaeological site of a limekiln was found just outside the area at NJ 23485 28701.
Archive: NRHE
Funder: Jacyna Forestry
Stuart Farrell
