NG0483 : Tuama/Tomb Alasdair MhicLeoid/MacLeod - Carving 14
taken 13 years ago, near to Rodel/Roghadal, Isle of Lewis And Harris, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scotland
Alasdair "Crotach" Macleod was the 8th chief of the Clan MacLeod. References on the web state that he was born in 1450, but as he died in 1547 this would mean he attained the remarkable age of 97. He became the Clan Chief in 1480 on the death of his father, William, at the Battle of Bloody Bay. Alasdair himself was no stranger to battle - his nickname "Crotach" translates at "humpbacked" - a disfigurement resulting from a serious battle wound. His misshapen body however is not faithfully reproduced in the recumbent effigy of his tomb.
The carvings:
The carvings on his tomb represent many of the things that were important to him in life; he was a religious man, so iconography such as angels and the crucifixion figure, but also scenes of hunting and of his knightly and warrior life, such as depictions of a "birlinn" or galley, essential to anyone attempting to control such a diffuse island demesne.