in 1555 john gordon, 11th earl of sutherland was commissioned by the queen regent, mary of guise to punish iye mackay, chief of the clan mackay for his failure to attend her in inverness. the earl destroyed the mackay's main stronghold on the north coast, borve castle north of farr, which the clan mackay had used to carry out raids on the clan sutherland. the earl of sutherland confronted iye mackay in strathbrora, forcing him to surrender himself to imprisonment in edinburgh. iye mackay's first cousin john-more mackay then assumed power. he led a raid towards helmsdale in sutherland, and burnt the chapel of st. ninian's at navidale just north of helmsdale before pulling back.