Iain Macleod
Iain Macleod was born at Clifford House, Skipton, Yorkshire, on 11 November 1913. His father, Dr. Norman Alexander Macleod, was a well-respected general practitioner in Skipton, with a substantial poor-law practice (providing medical services for those who could not afford to pay); the young Macleod would often accompany his father on his rounds. His parents were from the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles of Scotland, belonging to the branch of the Macleods of Pabbay and Uig. They moved to Skipton in 1907. Macleod grew up with strong personal and cultural ties to Scotland, as his parents bought in 1917 part of the Leverhulme estate on the Isle of Lewis, where they often used to stay for family holidays.
Iain Ciar MacLeod
The manuscript relates a story in which Iain Ciar was hunting deer with the leading men of his clan. The forest on Harris, in which they hunted, was owned in ancient times by Clan Vic Ghitthich ("the children of the Wolf") and still was partially possessed by the family, although they paid tribute to MacLeod. During the hunt, Iain Ciar expressed his anger that they had not come across the white stag that was known to live in the area; the MacLeod chief offered a large reward to whoever could discover the offender who had killed the animal. An enemy of the MacGhitthich chief put the blame on MacGhitthich and in consequence, Iain Ciar had MacGhitthich cruelly put to death by forcing the antlers of a large deer into his bowels. When the hunting party returned to Rodel, intending to set sail for Dunvegan, the vengeful MacGhitthiches attacked the MacLeods. Iain Ciar was struck by an arrow. His son, William Cleireach managed to rally his clan and fend off the attackers. Iain Ciar's wife, three of his illegitimate daughters, and other women, fled the hostilities in a galley. The ship was, however, blown out to sea and across The Minch, before it was dashed to pieces against rocks, which the manuscript describes as being called "the Maidens". The wounded Iain Ciar was taken to the church at Rodel, where he died that evening. His body was taken to Iona where it was buried. He was succeeded by his surviving son, William Cleireach. The late nineteenth-century historian A. MacKenzie stated that Iain Ciar died shortly after the ascension of Robert III; MacLeod thought that he was killed in the year 1392.
The "Bannatyne manuscript" states that the first seven chiefs of Clan MacLeod were buried at Iona. The choir of Iona Abbey, for the most part, dates from the early sixteenth century. Within the centre of the choir there is a large stone which once contained a monumental brass, traditionally said to have been a MacLeod marker. The stone formed a matrix which at one time contained the brass inlay (tradition states that it was a silver inlay). It is the largest carved stone on the island, measuring by . R. C. MacLeod speculated that perhaps Leod and five of his successors were buried beneath—however, in his opinion Iain Ciar was buried elsewhere.