Ormond Castle (4)
A much more serious threat to King David was to be posed by William fitz Duncan's son and heir, Donald MacWilliam.  Like his great grandfather, King Donald II, attempts were made to discredit him by questioning his legitimacy, but again, they appear to have been propaganda.  It is fairly certain, although unrecorded, that his wife was a daughter of Óengus of Moray, whose earldom had been given to his father (and then taken away again), but to which he had a claim though his wife anyway.  The suggested reason he did not originally get the earldom is that he may still have been a child when his father died, and therefore not a suitable ruler for such a fractious and distant province.

Donald MacWilliam rebelled against the ruling Margaretsons in 1179 and although King William the Lion and his brother, David Earl of Huntingdon, marched north with armies, no conclusion was reached.  The construction of 'royal castles', possibly including Ormond, was started at this time, to provide royal forces with bases to operate from and to discourage intervention from the Earl of Orkney, who was related to the MacWilliams.  Two years later, with the king busy in Galloway, Donald MacWilliam was reported in northern Scotland with a large army.  By the time affairs in Galloway had been settled, Donald controlled much of the north.  In 1187, an attempt was made to deal with Donald, but failed due to the leaders of the royal army quarreling among themselves because &quot;some loved the king not at all&quot;, however a second army, led by Roland of Galloway, defeated and killed Donald at the 'Battle of Mam Garvia'.  Contrary to what all the amateur genealogists on the internet tell you, the date and site of this battle are not known, but it is suggested to be near Dingwall or in Moray.
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