Here are riveting tales of stolen brides, drowned wives, severed heads, Jacobite fugitives, pirates, fairies, feuds, torture, bloodshed and battle, and much more. Tales of the Clan Chiefs is a collection of forty fascinating stories associated with the chiefs of the major clans in Scotland. The tales which are based on historical events, date from the earliest years of the clans, right up to relatively modern times, when the Highland clearances ended centuries of culture and kinship, destroying the last of the traditional ways. Each tale is associated with an individual clan and includes an infamous chief or two, such as the one who locked up his own son in a dungeon and tortured him to death, another who found himself married to the wrong daughter and had to flee his new father-in-law, one who fought on the Continent with his Highland mercenaries, and another who was involved in witchcraft whilst plotting to kill his brother. There are stories of castles being attacked by the enemy, regained by their chief, set alight or deserted. We learn of chiefs who lived in exile, too frightened to return home, and of the internal feuds which decided who would succeed. Also featured are clan battles, some organized beforehand and the others the inevitable result of two opposing forces meeting by chance. Many of the principle events in Scottish history are recounted from the clan chief's point of view, from Robert the Bruce's battles with the MacDougalls to Bonnie Prince Charlie's months of hiding with the Chief of the MacPhersons. Illustrated with the author's own line drawings, Tales of the Clan Chiefs is essential reading for anyone interested in the ancient clans of Scotland and in Scottish history in general.