John Lachlan M'Gillivay of Dunmaglass, childless chief of the clan, died in Inverness in 1852. As an infant, he had inherited a vast fortune made by relatives in America and the West Indies in the 18th century. Eleven claimants came forward, from a Caithness salmon-fisher, to the dashing Canadian-born Julia, whose father had reigned over a fur-trapping empire in North America. When the lands were finally adjudged, they seem to have gone to the wrong people.

Was there miscarriage of justice?

What secrets were whispered in the corridors of the Edinburgh law courts? Who was the true daughter of the intrepid Jacobite officer, William the Captain Ban - Lucy or Jean? And who were the members of John Lachlan's hidden family, some of whom lived on a remote Hebrides island, far from their Dunmaglass homeland? This is a mystery story that spans several continents and generations of different families. For genealogists, those interested in Highland history and anyone with a M'Gillivray ancestor.