Old Andrew, the defender of Ruthven Castle against Argyll in 1594, must have been at least in his mid-seventies when Ewan died. But Andrew who was born around 1642 was only 8 years of age at the time and thus not able to relieve his grandfather of the heavy tasks of chiefship. This position had been made even more difficult by the Statute of Iona (1609) which held the clan chief personally responsible for the behaviour of all members of his clan. Thus, old Andrew must have been a remarkable individual as well as there being a number of extraordinary clansmen who helped guide the Macphersons through the troubled decade that ended in 1660, the year of his death when he must have been in his eighties.

        As noted above, Andrew succeeded his grandfather as the 15th Chief in 1660 at the age of about 18 years. His portrait is shown at the right. He had been educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen in the year 1656 and was graduated in 1660. Among his classmates were Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Aeneas Macpherson of Invereshie, the clan historian who was later knighted, and Lachlan Mackintosh of Mackintosh.

        The following year the Macphersons and the Mackintoshes nearly came to armed conflict over the latter's attempt to erect a mill on the River Feshie. The Macphersons objected to this because it would have interfered with an existing mill downstream. The fiery cross went out and the Clan Mhuirich rallied to the Mackintosh mill site. Finding himself outnumbered, the Mackintosh appealed to other clans in the area for assistance, but they all refused to become involved.

        The reply of Clan Grant is particularly worthy of telling : "We have had several bloody quarrels with the McIntoshes and with almost all the families in the Highlands, . . . But . . . for a full 400 years that we have been their nearest neighbours there has not been so much as one slaughter between the McPhersons and us . . . The McPhersons are a downright honest people, hate tricks and cheats, the best and firmest friends can be, but where they have a just prejudice, fierce and implacable enemies. . . . For this reason [we have] no freedom to join in any [action] against Clunie . . . and that McIntosh should accommodate the matter."

        In 1663, the centuries-old dispute between the Mackintoshes and the Camerons came to a head regarding the payment of rent for the lands in Lochaber that his ancestor had gained through marriage to Eva some 300 years earlier. The Mackintosh was able to obtain a commission of fire and sword against the Camerons from the Government and called on the constituent clans of the Clan Chattan Confederation to assist him in forcing the Camerons to pay their debts or vacate the land.

        The first to be called upon was young Cluny who response was that it was one thing to provide assistance for mutual safety and quite another to act under orders for other reasons. So before agreeing to help in this enterprise he required the Mackintosh to sign a paper that stated that he acknowledged that the Macphersons were participating ". . . out of their meir guidwill and pleasure . . ." and not out of any sense of duty. As it turned out, the Camerons agreed to pay a certain sum for purchase of the lands that they had been occupying for centuries.