[1] Historian Angus Mackay states that the rightful heir was in fact Elizabeth's half-brother, Alexander Sutherland.
[1] According to 17th-century historian Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet who himself was a son of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, both John Mackay of Strathnaver and Alexander Sutherland were bastards, but this is rejected by historian Angus Mackay.
[1] However, both historians Angus Mackay and Sir William Fraser show that it can be proved that Alexander Sutherland was in prison in 1517 when the Battle of Torran Dubh is supposed to have taken place.
[1] However, this was immediately followed by a bond of friendship between the Mackays and Adam Gordon, Earl of Sutherland dated 16 August 1518, in which Mackay renewed the bond that his father had made with the Gordon Earl of Sutherland before him.
[1] Mackay marched with a body of men towards the bishop's Skibo Castle, but he became sick during the expedition and was carried home to die almost immediately.