or by horse-drawn coach, for onward travel to and trade with the rest of Scotland and further afield.

At some point in the mid-1500s, the already ancient MacLeod castle in Stornoway, which had prior been the ancient clan seat of Clan MacNicol, 'fell victim to the cannons of the Duke of Argyle'. By the early 1600s rumbling trade wars came to a head, and all further government attempts to curtail traditional shipping rights were firmly resisted by the islanders, as was an attempt by James VI, King of Scotland,