Qualla: Battle of Torran Dubh https://qualla.com/battle-of-torran-dubh en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:25 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Torran Dubh https://qualla.com/battle-of-torran-dubh Battle of Torran Dubh: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-torran-dubh/ Two historians, three centuries apart, looked at the same Highland battle and could not agree on who was even fighting. The Battle of Torran Dubh - also called Torran-dow or Torran Du - took place somewhere in Sutherland in 1517. Beyond that, almost everything is in dispute. The first surviving account was written a century later by a man whose father was the local earl. The second was written four centuries later, by a historian who had found a manuscript that contradicted the first. The truth, as so often in clan history, lies somewhere between the two - or has been lost entirely.

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]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/m/1/battle-of-torran-dubh-wp/gfm1-battle-of-torran-dubh-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Torran Dubh: Sir Robert's Version https://qualla.com/battle-of-torran-dubh/ The first account comes from Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet, writing in the 1610s or 1620s. Gordon was a younger son of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland - the Earldom of Sutherland had passed to the Gordon family through marriage in the late 15th century - and his histor...

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]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/m/1/battle-of-torran-dubh-wp/gfm1-battle-of-torran-dubh-sir-roberts-version.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Torran Dubh: Fraser's Inconvenient Discovery https://qualla.com/battle-of-torran-dubh/ Three centuries later, in the late 19th century, the historian Sir William Fraser was working through Sutherland family papers when he found something awkward. According to the surviving records, Alexander Sutherland - the man Gordon credited with leading the Earl's forces at Tor...

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]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/m/1/battle-of-torran-dubh-wp/gfm1-battle-of-torran-dubh-frasers-inconvenient-discovery.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Torran Dubh: Mackay's Manuscript https://qualla.com/battle-of-torran-dubh/ Early in the 20th century, the historian Angus Mackay went back to original sources and offered a different account based on a manuscript he had located. In his telling, the Battle of Torran Dubh was indeed fought in 1517, and the Mackays were indeed defeated - but not by Sutherl...

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]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/m/1/battle-of-torran-dubh-wp/gfm1-battle-of-torran-dubh-mackays-manuscript.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Torran Dubh: What Survives https://qualla.com/battle-of-torran-dubh/ What everyone agrees on is that a battle was fought, somewhere in Sutherland, in 1517, and that the Mackays of Strathnaver were on the losing side. The site is identified as Torran Dubh - the "black knoll" - somewhere in the upper reaches of Strath Fleet or Strath Brora, possibly...

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]]> Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/m/1/battle-of-torran-dubh-wp/gfm1-battle-of-torran-dubh-what-survives.mp3 0:06 5 full