The Battle of Glenlivet

In the late 16th century, Scotland was in the midst of a violent struggle and great religious strife between the old Catholic order and the emerging Protestant regime. By 1594 laws restricting the Catholic faith were introduced by King James VI and it seemed inevitable that bloodshed would soon follow.

Influential nobles from right across the Northeast gathered behind the Earls of Huntly and Errol ready to oppose the King. In response, a large army loyal to James and led by the Earl of Argyll travelled north into the Highlands to deal with the rebel force. As one side marched through Badenoch and Strathspey, the other moved west from Aberdeenshire. The meeting point would be Moray and the result was the almost completely forgotten Battle of Glenlivet.

The King’s force was an impressive 10,000 men strong, however, it was made up mostly of untrained militia and with the 19-year-old Argyll in charge, they lacked real experience. Huntly had only managed to raise 2000 for his rising so the loyal soldiers were feeling confident against this much smaller force.

That’s why Huntly did the last thing anybody expected, he rushed to attack. The rebels gambled that Argyll and his inexperienced men fighting far from home would panic at the first sight of action. They used their cavalry to quickly advance up the hill, while powerful field artillery blasted over their heads in support.

That enormous gamble paid off when huge swathes of Argyll’s army abandoned the field without even striking a single blow. The men who remained behind fought back hard and Huntly himself was almost killed when his horse was shot out from beneath him. A few hours later, the King’s army had suffered an embarrassing defeat, with young Argyll allegedly being led weeping from the field.

The rebels may have won the day, but all they had really achieved was a little time. Soon, King James himself led another royal army north to deal with the problem personally and he was a much tougher prospect. Both the Earls of Huntly and Errol had little choice but to flee the country and pray for their salvation.