The Battle of Skibo and Strathfleet was prompted by Clan Donald

Clan Donald

Clan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan...

's invasion of the area around Dornoch

Dornoch

Dornoch is a town and seaside resort, and former Royal burgh in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east...

 in northern Scotland in 1480. Two attacks were repulsed by the local clans

Scottish clan

Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...

 of Clan Sutherland

Clan Sutherland

Clan Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is located in the region of Sutherland in northern highlands of Scotland and was one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The clan seat is at Dunrobin Castle, Sutherland...

 and Clan Murray

Clan Murray

Clan Murray is a Highland Scottish clan. The Murrays were a great and powerful clan whose lands and cadet houses were scattered throughout Scotland.- Origins of the Clan :...

.

Background

In 1462, John MacDonald II, Lord of the Isles had entered into a secret treaty, in which he agreed to become a vassal

Vassal

A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

 of Edward IV of England

Edward IV of England

Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...

 in return for help in conquering northern Scotland. When James III of Scotland

James III of Scotland

James III was King of Scots from 1460 to 1488. James was an unpopular and ineffective monarch owing to an unwillingness to administer justice fairly, a policy of pursuing alliance with the Kingdom of England, and a disastrous relationship with nearly all his extended family.His reputation as the...

 discovered this agreement in 1476, he stripped John of his possessions on the mainland. John spent the next few years trying to reclaim the land he thought was his. When he lent most of his forces to his kinsman Donald Balloch of Islay to ravage the West Coast, John took 500-600 men around the north of Scotland to the Dornoch Firth

Dornoch Firth

The Dornoch Firth is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north....

 on the east coast. It's not clear what his intention was, but he landed a few miles from Dunrobin Castle

Dunrobin Castle

Dunrobin Castle is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland. It is the seat of the Countess of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It is located north of Golspie, and approximately south of Brora, on the Dornoch Firth close to the A9 road. Nearby Dunrobin Castle railway...

, home to Clan Sutherland

Clan Sutherland

Clan Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is located in the region of Sutherland in northern highlands of Scotland and was one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The clan seat is at Dunrobin Castle, Sutherland...

 who controlled much of the far north of Scotland.

Battles

At first the MacDonalds camped in front of Skibo Castle

Skibo Castle

Skibo Castle is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although the castle dates back to the 12th century, the present structure is largely of the 19th century, and early 20th century, when it was the home of industrialist...

, a possession of the Bishop of Caithness

Bishop of Caithness

The Bishop of Caithness was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Caithness, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first referenced bishop of Caithness was Aindréas, a Gael who appears in sources between 1146 and 1151 as bishop. Aindréas spent much if not all of his career outside his...

. John, 8th Earl of Sutherland

Earl of Sutherland

Earl of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa 1230 for William de Moravia. The Earl of Sutherland is also the Chief of Clan Sutherland...

 sent a force under Neill Murray to watch the islanders. MacDonald began to ravage the country, so Murray attacked, driving off the invaders who lost a captain named Donald Dubh-na-Soirn, and 50 men.

In response to this defeat, MacDonald sent some of his men and "a company of men from Ross" up the coast to Loch Fleet

Loch Fleet

Loch Fleet is a sea loch on the east coast of Scotland, located between Golspie and Dornoch. It forms the estuary of the River Fleet, a small spate river that rises in the hills east of Lairg.-Geography and geology:...

, just south of Dunrobin. Sutherland sent his brother Robert and some men to meet the attackers "on the sands of Strathfleet". After a "fierce and bloody struggle", the island men and their allies were defeated "with great slaughter" and the survivors pursued as far as Bonar

Bonar Bridge

Bonar Bridge is a village on the north bank of the Kyle of Sutherland, in the Parish of Creich in the Highland council area of Scotland.The Kyle of Sutherland is a river estuary of the Rivers Oykel, Cassley, Shin and Carron that all enter the Kyle above the bridge at Bonar.The estuary and the...

.

Aftermath

This was to be the final conflict between the MacDonalds and Sutherlands, as Sutherland married MacDonald's sister Margaret soon afterwards, sealing an alliance. However this heavy defeat may have been a factor in the conflict between John MacDonald and his son Angus Og, which resulted in the Battle of Bloody Bay

Battle of Bloody Bay

The Battle of Bloody Bay, or Blàr Bàgh na Fala in Scottish Gaelic, was a naval battle fought near Tobermory, Scotland. It was fought on the coast of Mull two miles north of Tobermory, between John of Islay, Earl of Ross, the Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald; and his son, Angus Og Macdonald...

in 1480 or 1483.