Alexander Comyn of Dunphail a 13th-14th century Scottish nobleman.
He was a son of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Alicia de Ros.
Alexander was married to Eva, widow of Alexander Murray, had issue.
He was captured at the battle of Dunbar in 1296, together with his brother Robert and nephew John and imprisoned.
He was killed during the siege of Dunphail Castle in 1330 by Thomas Randolph, Regent of Scotland
He is known to have had an elder son Alistair and five other sons who were also killed during the siege.
When Robert the Bruce's nephew, Thomas Randolph was made Earl of Moray, the
Comyns found their old privileges as rangers of the Kings forest of Darnaway restricted.
By way of reprisal Comyn of Raites gathered his Kinsman of Dunear and Relugas at the Cairnbar of Lethen, high above Daltulich bridge, between the valleys of the Findhorn and Muckle Burn.
The Comyns set out a thousand strong under the leadership of young Alistair Bane Comyn "Fair haired Alexander" of Dunphail to burn Randolph's new great hall at Darnaway.
They march through what is now Broadshaw to the valley pf the Muckle Burn and fell into an ambush by the Earl of Moray at Whitemire.
Raites was killed and buried on the field of Battle, Randolph exclaiming as the stones were piled in a cairn over his dead foe.
"There have I buried the plague of Moray"
The routed Comyns were rallied by Alistair Bane, who fought a desperate rear guard action through Glenshiel.
Alistair Bane made a stand at Clune, near Cairnbar, and, after a valiant defence, broke his way through the ranks of Randolph's men and continued his fight to Randolph's leap.
He found his line of retreat closed by a strong detachment of his enemies on the opposite bank.
Then following a fierce slaughter, Alistair Bane covered the rear of his dispirited followers while his kinsmen of Drumine endeavored to cross the shallows above the leap and gain command of the further shore.
The pressure on the rear pushed the Comyns nearer and nearer the chasm,
In desperation Alistair Bane flung the standard of the Comyns across the gap among the warriors on the Relugas bank with the shout "let the bravest keep it'.
He then leapt the chasm at the spot called Randolph's leap
Alistair Bane was followed by four of his supporters and made his escape.
Moray besieged Alistair's father in his castle of Dunphail and brought the garrison to the point of starvation.
On a dark night during the siege, Alistair managed to heave some bags of meat from a high bank into the courtyard of the stronghold.
The next day Alistair was tracked to a cave by the means of a blood hound.
He begged to be allowed out to die by the sword, but instead was smoked to death by the Earl's men.
They then took the heads of Alistair and his companions and threw them it not his fathers courtyard, with the shout "here is beef for your Bannocks".
The old chief took up the head of his son. "It is indeed a bitter morsel", he said, "but I will gnaw the last bone of it before I surrender".
In the end the little garrison, driven by hunger raced out and were cut to pieces.
Early in the nineteenth century the minister of Edinkilly found the skeletons of young Alistair and his companions, seven in number, at a spot know today as the "grave of the headless Comyn".
Five headless ghosts are said to haunt the old ruin, and tales of the sounds of groans and fighting have also been reported.
He was a son of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Alicia de Ros.
Alexander was married to Eva, widow of Alexander Murray, had issue.
He was captured at the battle of Dunbar in 1296, together with his brother Robert and nephew John and imprisoned.
He was killed during the siege of Dunphail Castle in 1330 by Thomas Randolph, Regent of Scotland
He is known to have had an elder son Alistair and five other sons who were also killed during the siege.
When Robert the Bruce's nephew, Thomas Randolph was made Earl of Moray, the
Comyns found their old privileges as rangers of the Kings forest of Darnaway restricted.
By way of reprisal Comyn of Raites gathered his Kinsman of Dunear and Relugas at the Cairnbar of Lethen, high above Daltulich bridge, between the valleys of the Findhorn and Muckle Burn.
The Comyns set out a thousand strong under the leadership of young Alistair Bane Comyn "Fair haired Alexander" of Dunphail to burn Randolph's new great hall at Darnaway.
They march through what is now Broadshaw to the valley pf the Muckle Burn and fell into an ambush by the Earl of Moray at Whitemire.
Raites was killed and buried on the field of Battle, Randolph exclaiming as the stones were piled in a cairn over his dead foe.
"There have I buried the plague of Moray"
The routed Comyns were rallied by Alistair Bane, who fought a desperate rear guard action through Glenshiel.
Alistair Bane made a stand at Clune, near Cairnbar, and, after a valiant defence, broke his way through the ranks of Randolph's men and continued his fight to Randolph's leap.
He found his line of retreat closed by a strong detachment of his enemies on the opposite bank.
Then following a fierce slaughter, Alistair Bane covered the rear of his dispirited followers while his kinsmen of Drumine endeavored to cross the shallows above the leap and gain command of the further shore.
The pressure on the rear pushed the Comyns nearer and nearer the chasm,
In desperation Alistair Bane flung the standard of the Comyns across the gap among the warriors on the Relugas bank with the shout "let the bravest keep it'.
He then leapt the chasm at the spot called Randolph's leap
Alistair Bane was followed by four of his supporters and made his escape.
Moray besieged Alistair's father in his castle of Dunphail and brought the garrison to the point of starvation.
On a dark night during the siege, Alistair managed to heave some bags of meat from a high bank into the courtyard of the stronghold.
The next day Alistair was tracked to a cave by the means of a blood hound.
He begged to be allowed out to die by the sword, but instead was smoked to death by the Earl's men.
They then took the heads of Alistair and his companions and threw them it not his fathers courtyard, with the shout "here is beef for your Bannocks".
The old chief took up the head of his son. "It is indeed a bitter morsel", he said, "but I will gnaw the last bone of it before I surrender".
In the end the little garrison, driven by hunger raced out and were cut to pieces.
Early in the nineteenth century the minister of Edinkilly found the skeletons of young Alistair and his companions, seven in number, at a spot know today as the "grave of the headless Comyn".
Five headless ghosts are said to haunt the old ruin, and tales of the sounds of groans and fighting have also been reported.
Alexander Comyn of Dunphail a 13th-14th century Scottish nobleman.
He was a son of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Alicia de Ros.
Alexander was married to Eva, widow of Alexander Murray, had issue.
He was captured at the battle of Dunbar in 1296, together with his brother Robert and nephew John and imprisoned.
He was killed during the siege of Dunphail Castle in 1330 by Thomas Randolph, Regent of Scotland
He is known to have had an elder son Alistair and five other sons who were also killed during the siege.
When Robert the Bruce's nephew, Thomas Randolph was made Earl of Moray, the
Comyns found their old privileges as rangers of the Kings forest of Darnaway restricted.
By way of reprisal Comyn of Raites gathered his Kinsman of Dunear and Relugas at the Cairnbar of Lethen, high above Daltulich bridge, between the valleys of the Findhorn and Muckle Burn.
The Comyns set out a thousand strong under the leadership of young Alistair Bane Comyn "Fair haired Alexander" of Dunphail to burn Randolph's new great hall at Darnaway.
They march through what is now Broadshaw to the valley pf the Muckle Burn and fell into an ambush by the Earl of Moray at Whitemire.
Raites was killed and buried on the field of Battle, Randolph exclaiming as the stones were piled in a cairn over his dead foe.
"There have I buried the plague of Moray"
The routed Comyns were rallied by Alistair Bane, who fought a desperate rear guard action through Glenshiel.
Alistair Bane made a stand at Clune, near Cairnbar, and, after a valiant defence, broke his way through the ranks of Randolph's men and continued his fight to Randolph's leap.
He found his line of retreat closed by a strong detachment of his enemies on the opposite bank.
Then following a fierce slaughter, Alistair Bane covered the rear of his dispirited followers while his kinsmen of Drumine endeavored to cross the shallows above the leap and gain command of the further shore.
The pressure on the rear pushed the Comyns nearer and nearer the chasm,
In desperation Alistair Bane flung the standard of the Comyns across the gap among the warriors on the Relugas bank with the shout "let the bravest keep it'.
He then leapt the chasm at the spot called Randolph's leap
Alistair Bane was followed by four of his supporters and made his escape.
Moray besieged Alistair's father in his castle of Dunphail and brought the garrison to the point of starvation.
On a dark night during the siege, Alistair managed to heave some bags of meat from a high bank into the courtyard of the stronghold.
The next day Alistair was tracked to a cave by the means of a blood hound.
He begged to be allowed out to die by the sword, but instead was smoked to death by the Earl's men.
They then took the heads of Alistair and his companions and threw them it not his fathers courtyard, with the shout "here is beef for your Bannocks".
The old chief took up the head of his son. "It is indeed a bitter morsel", he said, "but I will gnaw the last bone of it before I surrender".
In the end the little garrison, driven by hunger raced out and were cut to pieces.
Early in the nineteenth century the minister of Edinkilly found the skeletons of young Alistair and his companions, seven in number, at a spot know today as the "grave of the headless Comyn".
Five headless ghosts are said to haunt the old ruin, and tales of the sounds of groans and fighting have also been reported.
He was a son of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Alicia de Ros.
Alexander was married to Eva, widow of Alexander Murray, had issue.
He was captured at the battle of Dunbar in 1296, together with his brother Robert and nephew John and imprisoned.
He was killed during the siege of Dunphail Castle in 1330 by Thomas Randolph, Regent of Scotland
He is known to have had an elder son Alistair and five other sons who were also killed during the siege.
When Robert the Bruce's nephew, Thomas Randolph was made Earl of Moray, the
Comyns found their old privileges as rangers of the Kings forest of Darnaway restricted.
By way of reprisal Comyn of Raites gathered his Kinsman of Dunear and Relugas at the Cairnbar of Lethen, high above Daltulich bridge, between the valleys of the Findhorn and Muckle Burn.
The Comyns set out a thousand strong under the leadership of young Alistair Bane Comyn "Fair haired Alexander" of Dunphail to burn Randolph's new great hall at Darnaway.
They march through what is now Broadshaw to the valley pf the Muckle Burn and fell into an ambush by the Earl of Moray at Whitemire.
Raites was killed and buried on the field of Battle, Randolph exclaiming as the stones were piled in a cairn over his dead foe.
"There have I buried the plague of Moray"
The routed Comyns were rallied by Alistair Bane, who fought a desperate rear guard action through Glenshiel.
Alistair Bane made a stand at Clune, near Cairnbar, and, after a valiant defence, broke his way through the ranks of Randolph's men and continued his fight to Randolph's leap.
He found his line of retreat closed by a strong detachment of his enemies on the opposite bank.
Then following a fierce slaughter, Alistair Bane covered the rear of his dispirited followers while his kinsmen of Drumine endeavored to cross the shallows above the leap and gain command of the further shore.
The pressure on the rear pushed the Comyns nearer and nearer the chasm,
In desperation Alistair Bane flung the standard of the Comyns across the gap among the warriors on the Relugas bank with the shout "let the bravest keep it'.
He then leapt the chasm at the spot called Randolph's leap
Alistair Bane was followed by four of his supporters and made his escape.
Moray besieged Alistair's father in his castle of Dunphail and brought the garrison to the point of starvation.
On a dark night during the siege, Alistair managed to heave some bags of meat from a high bank into the courtyard of the stronghold.
The next day Alistair was tracked to a cave by the means of a blood hound.
He begged to be allowed out to die by the sword, but instead was smoked to death by the Earl's men.
They then took the heads of Alistair and his companions and threw them it not his fathers courtyard, with the shout "here is beef for your Bannocks".
The old chief took up the head of his son. "It is indeed a bitter morsel", he said, "but I will gnaw the last bone of it before I surrender".
In the end the little garrison, driven by hunger raced out and were cut to pieces.
Early in the nineteenth century the minister of Edinkilly found the skeletons of young Alistair and his companions, seven in number, at a spot know today as the "grave of the headless Comyn".
Five headless ghosts are said to haunt the old ruin, and tales of the sounds of groans and fighting have also been reported.
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