To further solidify the bond between the families, the Earl of Argyll granted MacDonald his "four score merklands" of Ardnamurchan, to be held by MacDonald under the Earl and his successors, and with seisin following immediately after. MacDonald had to pay 1000
merks for these lands, which was considerably under their real value.[7]
He organised the release of his brother,
Sorley Boy MacDonnell, in 1551, in exchange for George Bustsyde, a prisoner he held after a battle on the island of Reachrainn (now
Rathlin Island).[3][4]
In 1560, James MacDonald and the
Earl of Argyll made a bond to resist any French incursions in Ireland, but MacDonald changed his position after
Mary, Queen of Scots returned from France to rule Scotland in person, and his wife was received at court.[8]
During the
Battle of Glentasie on 2 May 1565, MacDonald and Sorley Boy were captured by
Shane O'Neill and imprisoned. MacDonald succumbed to his wounds shortly after being captured, while being imprisoned at Castle Crocke, near Strathbane.[9][10]
^Macdonald, A. (Angus); Macdonald, Archibald (1896).
The clan Donald. National Library of Scotland. Inverness : The Northern Counties Publishing Company, Ltd. pp. 529–530.
^Mary Ann Lyons, Franco-Irish Relations, 1500-1610: Politics, Migration and Trade (Boydell, 2003), pp. 122–3.