The Munro’s had been on an expedition to
avenge some insult suffered in the South and were returning to
Ross-Shire with a large drove of cattle. In accordance with a custom of the times, each
clan through whose lands the successful raiders passed was entitled
to a proportion of the cattle as payment for a trouble free
passage.
On this occasion while passing through Clan
Chattan (MacIntosh) territory, the two clans could not agree
on the amount of “road collop” (as it was called) to be paid and
when the Munro’s finally refused any payment at all the
MacIntosh’s pursued them and the
matter was fought out at Clachnaharry,
with considerable losses on both sides. The
Munro’s seem to have sent the booty on a head, but the
leader, an Uncle of the Chief, was wounded and left for dead.
Some accounts say that MacIntosh himself was killed but the evidence is
against this statement. The date for
this conflict is usually given as 1454 but some accounts place it
in the previous century.
The existing monument was erected in 1821 by
Major Hugh Robert Duff of Muirtown.
The cache is a 1 litre Lock and Lock type
container hidden close to the site of the monument.