Davidson, W. L. 1911 The Battle of Harlaw. Unpublished.
Davidson, J. 1878 Inverurie and the Earldom of the Garioch. David Douglas, Edinburgh.
Henderson C. S. 1948 'A note on the Battle of Harlaw', The Stewarts, 8 (1948), 88-90.
Marren, P. 1990 Grampian Battlefields : the historic battles of North East Scotland from AD84 to 1745.: Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen.
Marren, P 2002 '"Sic strokes ye never saw": The Battle of Harlaw, 24 July 1411', Battlefields Rev, 20 (2002).
Roberts, J. L 1999 Feuds, Forays and Rebellions: History of the Highland Clans 1475-1625. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Sadler, J. 2005 The Clan MacDonald's Greatest Defeat: The Battle of Harlaw 1411. NPI Media Group, London
Simpson, W. D. 1949 The Earldom of Mar. Aberdeen University Studies 124, Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen.
Tytler, P. F. 1845 History of Scotland, 1149 – 1603. (3rd ed) W. Tait, Edinburgh.
Williams, R. 1984 The Lords of the Isles : the Clan Donald and the Early Kingdom of the Scots. Chatto & Windus, London.
Information on Sources and Publications
The primary sources are sketchy in detail about the action of the battle. There is information about the surrounding events and about the identity of those who died on Mar's side, but there is little detail about the action itself. The sources are largely written from a lowland, Stewart perspective, which is why there is almost no information about the Highland dead. Amongst the secondary sources, there is a frequent insistence that Donald was the loser of the battle, or that it was inconclusive. It is difficult to match this against the reported facts of the battle: having lost a far greater proportion of his army and a significant number of senior figures, Mar was in no state to be able to continue the fighting; instead, Donald chose to withdraw.
Primary Sources
Anon. 1800. The battle of Harlaw, foughten upon Friday, July 24 1411, against Donald of the Isles. Wilson, Aberdeen.
Dawson, C. 1797 Don poem : With large notes, giving an account of the most ancient families, castles, and curiosities on Don and its branches, with a full account of the battles of Harlaw, Brechin, and Alford, &c. Aberdeen: printed for Charles Dawson by Burnett and Rettie ... 1797.
Cartographic and Illustrative Sources
No further information.
Secondary Sources
Davidson, W. L. 1911 The Battle of Harlaw. Unpublished.
Davidson, J. 1878 Inverurie and the Earldom of the Garioch. David Douglas, Edinburgh.
Henderson C. S. 1948 'A Note on the Battle of Harlaw', The Stewarts, 8 (1948), 88-90.
Marren, P. 1990 Grampian Battlefields : the historic battles of North East Scotland from AD84 to 1745.: Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen.
Marren, P 2002 '"Sic strokes ye never saw": The Battle of Harlaw, 24 July 1411', Battlefields Rev, 20 (2002).
Roberts, J. L 1999 Feuds, Forays and Rebellions: History of the Highland Clans 1475-1625. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Sadler, J. 2005 The Clan MacDonald's Greatest Defeat: The Battle of Harlaw 1411. NPI Media Group, London
Simpson, W. D. 1949 The Earldom of Mar. Aberdeen University Studies 124, Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen.
Tytler, P. F. 1845 History of Scotland, 1149 – 1603. (3rd ed) W. Tait, Edinburgh.
Williams, R. 1984 The Lords of the Isles : the Clan Donald and the Early Kingdom of the Scots. Chatto & Windus, London.
About the Inventory of Historic Battlefields
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
The inventory is a list of Scotland's most important historic battlefields. Battlefields are landscapes over which a battle was fought. We maintain the inventory under the terms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
We add sites of national importance to the inventory using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
The information in the inventory record gives an indication of the national importance of the site(s). It is not a definitive account or a complete description of the site(s).
Enquiries about development proposals requiring planning permission on or around inventory sites should be made to the planning authority. The planning authority is the main point of contact for all applications of this type.
Find out more about the inventory of historic battlefields and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.
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