The Battle of Bealach nam Broig: The Pass of the Shoe

At a glance

Date	uncertain — c. 1452 (sources range 1275–1452)
War	Feud within the Earldom of Ross
Where	A pass above Loch Glass, below Ben Wyvis
Winner	the pro-Earl clans (Munro/Dingwall/Fraser)
Loser	the western “rebels”
Source	tradition; date unknown

Background

Western clans — men of Lewis and Mackenzie septs — had seized one of the Earl of Ross’s sons as a hostage. The Earl called on Lovat, and a combined Munro, Dingwall and Fraser force pursued them into the hills.

The battle

They caught the rebels at the high pass, rescued the hostage and all but annihilated the band — but at ruinous cost to themselves. Tradition holds the Munros of Foulis were so cut up that the chiefship passed to an infant in his cradle.

Honesty note — among the least reliable here: the date is genuinely unknown, sources scattering from c. 1275 to 1452; even the belligerents differ between accounts, and every casualty figure is traditional and mutually inconsistent. The name “pass of the shoe” is explained by a folk-tale that the outnumbered men reversed their brogues to mislead pursuers in the snow — place-name legend, not history.

The site today

Logged in the Highland Historic Environment Record (MHG7773) as a battle site — a local record, not an HES designation; an arrowhead was reportedly found nearby in 1913. No monument. Not on the HES Inventory.

The clans & people involved

Clan Munro, the Dingwalls and Fraser of Lovat — for the Earl of Ross.
Western rebels — MacIvers, Macaulays, MacLennans and men of the MacLeods of Lewis, under Mackenzie vassals.

Sources

Battle of Bealach nam Broig — Wikipedia; Highland HER MHG7773; clan tradition.

📝 Kevin’s note: a photo of the pass above Loch Glass / Ben Wyvis — add from our own visit.

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