The Scottish Gaelic word crotach means "humpbacked" and the nickname refers to wounds he received during battle which crippled him the rest of his life.

At this particular time, William Dubh was away and his only son, Alasdair, rallied the clan's forces and marched them towards the MacDonalds who were encamped near their galleys.

The opposing forces clashed with each other and Alasdair was wounded in the back by Evan MacKail, who wielded a battle axe.

The writer of the manuscript states that at the time of writing (about the 1830s), there were heaps of skulls and bones which could still be seen where the battle was said to have taken place.

Roberts proposed that the MacDonalds could have landed on the north-west coast of Skye, following Alasdair's seizure of Dunscaith Castle after the year 1513; and that the opposing forces could have met and done battle at Glendale.

In October of the same year, the king then granted the same office of bailiary of Trotternish, to Torquil MacLeod of Lewis.

MacLeod, however, stated that he did not believe that Alasdair ever really possessed these lands (except the two unce-lands of Trotternish, which his grandson exchanged for Waternish in 1610).

The locals then put the majority of the crew to death and set three others to sea, where they miraculously washed ashore on Skye.

When Alasdair Crotach heard of the treatment of the crew he swore he would not change his clothes until every soul on the islands of Eigg, Rum, and Canna was put to death.

The chief ordered six large galleys to be made ready, and together with his son, William, and several hundred armed men, sailed for the Small Isles.

The inhabitants of the islands knew the intentions of the MacLeods and attempted to escape their fury by hiding themselves in a large cave on Eigg.

[3] The manuscript states that Alasdair Crotach was a religious man; so before the massacre of all the local inhabitants, he prayed for six hours incessantly.

The manuscript claims that he then sailed to Skye and left actual killing to his son, William, who collected all the combustible material he could find and set it alight and smothered everyone within the cave.

He also built two churches, one at Nic Caperrall close to Toe Head, and one in Scarpa, an island off Loch Resort on the west side of North Harris.

[note 1] MacLeod stated that the sword had been dated to the about the year 1460—which is roughly the time when Alasdair Crotach would have been a young man.

Alasdair Crotach and his wife had three sons and two daughters; MacLeod considered that their family were likely born between the years 1500 and 1520.

[12][13] The Bannatyne manuscript states that Alasdair Crotach's second daughter married Hector MacLean of Lochbuie.

Donald Glass was put in irons, and had a heavy weight wrapped around his neck; he was held for six years and never recovered from the ill-treatment he received at the hands of the MacDonalds.