month later as a result of this desperate march. It is believed that Iain Lom accidentally killed his own brother at a skirmish on Loch Tayside (Sròn a’ Chlachain), a battle in which his father was also killed. Thereafter he refused to draw a sword. When offered one by Alasdair Mac Colla at Inverlochy he declined saying "Cathaichibh sibhse 's innse mise" (You fight and I'll narrate). His long narrative poemLà Inbhir Lochaidh (Day of Inverlochy) is regarded as one of the treasures of the Gaelic language and an important historical source regarding the battle. His supposed lameness didn't stop him from climbing a tree during the battle of Inverlochy. When chastized for his seeming cowardice by his chief afterwards, he is said to have replied that he had climbed the tree the better to see his chief and clansmens' valiant deeds, and had he been killed in the battle, who would then have composed poetry about them? There are many stories told of his quick and vitriolic wit, which apparently was demonstrated from an early age. He was a man of strong passions, none of which exceeded his hatred of Clan Campbell, as is evident from the following from Là Inbhir Lochaidh (The Day of Inverlochy) It is widely believed that Robert Burns was Scotland's first Poet Laureate. However, Charles II named Iain Lom poet laureate during his reign, and a later MacDonald poet, Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair ("Alexander, son of the teacher Alexander") was later appointed poet laureate by Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the de jure Prince Regent, during the 1745 Jacobite Rising, but as the Stuart line was unseated in 1689, and the subsequent Jacobite Risings failed to permanently restore the Stuarts, their status became a moot point. Their stature has further been diminished by the fact that they composed exclusively in Gaelic, which even at that time was a language in decline. Iain Lom was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the Keppoch murderers to justice. When Dòmhnall Glas II (Grey Donald II)died his heir, Alasdair was too young to rule. The clan was governed by Alasdair Buidhe (yellow haired Alexander), uncle to the heir, until the young chief and his brother, Raghnall, returned from their education in Rome. A banquet was held in their honour at which both boys were murdered by 7 men (a father and his sons) from a branch of the family that