Battle of Harlaw 1411
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary.
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1411 | Wikidata P585 point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 15th century | derived |
| Period | Wars of the Roses & late medieval | derived |
| Country | Scotland | derived |
| War / conflict | Macdonald uprising | Wikidata |
| Local authority | Aberdeenshire | HES |
| Registered area | 518.5 ha | HES |
| HES inventory reference | BTL11 | HES |
| Designated | 2011-03-21 | HES |
| Last amended | 2012-12-14 | HES |
About the battle
The Battle of Harlaw (Scottish Gaelic: Cath Gairbheach) was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland and those from the west coast.
The battle was part of a series of battles fought to resolve competing claims to the Earldom of Ross, a large region of northern Scotland. Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, had taken control of the earldom ostensibly as guardian of his granddaughter Euphemia Leslie, but in truth, though Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, had the superior claim, Albany wanted Ross for his younger son, John. Donald, Lord of the Isles, had married Euphemia's aunt Mariota. Donald therefore invaded Ross with the intention of seizing the earldom by force and preventing Albany from taking all of Scotland.
The nearest contemporary record of the battle is found in the Irish Annals of Connacht, where under the year 1411, it is stated, "Mac Domnaill of Scotland won a great victory over the Galls of Scotland". The 2011 article by Iain G.
Visiting the battlefield
The battle is remembered as "one of the hardest fought that ever took place on Scottish soil"; the fighting was so fierce that the battle went down in history as "Red (Reid) Harlaw". The battle is commemorated in a march, The Battle of Harlaw, and in ballads such as Child ballad 163. Maidment has a different ballad which apparently shares the same tune, but he is sceptical of its antiquity. Sir Walter Scott mentions Harlaw in his 1816 novel The Antiquary, particularly in Elspeth's ballad in Chapter 40.
Tradition has it that Mar founded Chapel of Garioch after the battle, to celebrate masses for the souls of the fallen.
Location
- Local authority: Aberdeenshire
- Approximate centre of registered area: 57.3082, -2.4119
- Registered area: 518.5 hectares
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Harlaw (revision 1374204791), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Commemoration and archaeology”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Contains Historic Environment Scotland and OS data © Historic Environment Scotland and Crown Copyright and database right 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Inverurie 1745 · 4 km
- Battle of Barra 1308 · 5 km
- Battle of Fyvie · 15 km
- Battle of Craibstone 1571 · 18 km
- Battle of Alford 1645 · 20 km
- Battle of Corrichie 1562 · 23 km
Browse more: battles in Scotland · Wars of the Roses & late medieval · 15th century battles