From this era comes a traditional account that the home of the MacIntyre chief was saved by the clan's ties to the MacDonalds. At the time of the civil war in Scotland the forces of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, had sacked Inveraray and marched north to the area of Glen Noe. As a tenant of the Campbells, the chief was deemed an opponent of the Royalist faction, which Montrose served. The chief, expecting no mercy, fled. As part of their campaign, the Royalist troops were under orders to destroy all houses in the neighbourhood and began to set fire to the chief's house. The commander of Montrose's men, Sir Alexander MacDonald,extinguished the blaze before it became widespread and sent word to the chief that his property had been spared in recognition of the services the clan's founder had performed in contriving the marriage of Somerled, ancestor of the MacDonalds to Ragnhilda half a millennium earlier.,