Mackenzies

“ It's hard the Government gives nobody in the North power to keep people in order. I don't choose to send a company to Inverness until I hear what they are determined to do at Lord Lovat's."
The Earl of Loudon writes to Marshal Wade, then Commander-in-Chief in the North, under date of 16th November, saying that 150 or 160 Mackenzies, seduced by the Earl of Cromarty, marched in the beginning of that week up the north side of Loch-Ness, expecting to be followed by 500 or 600 Frasers, under command of the Master of Lovat, but the Mackenzies had not on that date passed the mountains. ”

“ The Incharrow Mackenzies were great people who saw much company, and it was, she thought, quite out of the question that she should go to their house. At no time of her career would she have been, as she conceived, fit to live with such grand persons; but at the present moment, when she grudged herself even a new pair of gloves out of the money remaining to her, while she was still looking forward to a future life passed as a nurse in a hospital, she felt that there would be an absolute unfitness in such a visit. ”

“ VIII. THOMAS MACKENZIE, would have succeeded as head of his house, and failing him and his descendants, if any, the representation of the old Mackenzies of Dundonnel would have fallen to JOHN HOPE MACKENZIE, third son of Thomas, VI. of Dundonnel and last proprietor of the family estates. He married Louisa, daughter of Captain Stewart of the Ceylon Rifles, widow of his deceased brother, George Alexander, without issue, and died in London in 1892. ”

“ THE MACKENZIES OF REDCASTLE. I. RODERICK MOR MACKENZIE, progenitor of the family of Redcastle, was third son of Kenneth Mackenzie X. of Kintail, by Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of John, second Earl of Athole. He was a distinguished warrior, and took a prominent part in the frequent encounters between the Mackenzies and the Macdonalds of Glengarry, often commanding the Clan on these occasions. In 1608 he has a charter under the Great Seal of the lands of Redcastle. He married Florence, daughter of Robert Munro, XV. of Fowlis, with issue -
1. Murdoch, his heir and successor. ”

“ He was twice married. By his first wife, Barbara, a daughter of Grant of Grant, he had, with three daughters, four sons, namely, Kenneth, his successor; Sir Roderick Mackenzie of Tarbat, ancestor of the Earls of Cromarty; Colin, ancestor of the Mackenzies of Kennock and Pitlundie; and Alexander, of the Mackenzies of Kilcoy, and other families of the name. By a second wife, Mary, eldest daughter of Roderick Mackenzie of Davoch-maluak, he had a son, Alexander, from whom the Mackenzies of Applecross, Coul, Delvin, Assint, and other families are sprung. ”

“ Being assisted by many followers from the neighbouring country, Mackenzie, by virtue of his commission, invaded Glengarry’s territories, which he mercilessly wasted and destroyed with fire and sword. On his return, Mackenzie besieged the castle of Strome, which ultimately surrendered to him. To assist Mackenzie in this expedition, the Earl of Sutherland, in token of the ancient friendship which had subsisted between his family and the Mackenzies, sent 240 well equipped and able men, under the command of John Gordon of Embo. ”

“ The first notice of the reputed charter to Colin Fitzgerald is in the manuscript history of the Mackenzies, by George, first Earl of Cromartie, already quoted, written about the middle of the seventeenth century. All the later genealogists appear to have taken its authenticity for granted, and quoted it accordingly. Dr Skene, the most learned and accurate of all our Highland historians, expresses his decided opinion that the charter is forged and absolutely worthless as evidence in favour of the Fitzgerald origin of the clan. ”

“ The first, Catherine, married John Clark, leather merchant, Inverness, and left issue. Another daughter married Mr Murrison, contractor for the Bridge of Conon, who afterwards settled down, after the death of the last of the Mackenzies of Achilty, on the farm of Kinkell, with issue, from whom the Stewarts, late Windmill, Inverness. A son, Kenneth who was for some time in the British Linen Bank, Inverness, afterwards died in India, in the army, unmarried. ”

“ Trace the Beauly through all its upper reaches, and how many thousands upon thousands of acres, once peopled, are, as respects human beings, a wide wilderness! The lands of the Chisholm have been stripped of their population down to a mere fragment; the possessors of those of Lovat have not been behind with their share of the same sad doings. Let us cross to the Conon and its branches, and we will find that the chieftains of the Mackenzies have not been less active in extermination. ”

“ After the defeat of Haco the King sent detachments to secure the West Highlands and Isles, and to check the local chiefs. Among the leaders sent in charge of the Western garrisons was, according to the supporters of the Irish-origin theory, Colin Fitzgerald, who, under the patronage of Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith, was settled in the Government of the Castle of Ellandonnan, the well-known stronghold of the Mackenzies, in Kintail, situated on a small rocky island at the junction of Lochalsh, Loch Duich and Loch Long. ”

“ Glengarry lived at the time in the Castle of Strone, Lochcarron, and, after consultation, the two Mackenzies resolved to use every means in their power to capture him, or some of his nearest relatives. For this purpose Dugall suggested a plan by which he thought he would induce the unsuspecting Glengarry to meet him on a certain day at Kishorn. Rory Mor, to avoid any suspicion, was to start at once for Lochbroom, under cloak of attending to his interests there; and if Macdonald agreed to meet Dugall at Kishorn, he would immediately send notice of the day to Rory. ”

“ All this may be so; but those who know Alexander Mackenzie know him to be a warm-hearted man, as kindly as he is firm and true—a man ready at any moment to help the needy, or make sacrifices for his friend. He hates humbug, and scorns shams, and can unmask a hypocrite with rare skill; but no more kindly man stands in the Dominion to-day. May a kind heaven send Canada more Mackenzies.
Clarke, Edward Frederick, M.P.P., Mayor of the City of Toronto, Ontario, was born in the county of Cavan, Ireland, on the 24th April, 1850. ”

“ The same mistake is here committed as is usual in manufacturing these pedigree charters, by making it a crown charter erecting the lands into a barony. Kintail could not have been a barony at that time, and the Earl of Ross and not the king was superior, for in 1342 the Earl of Ross grants the ten davochs of the lands of Kintail to Reginald, son of Roderick of the Isles, and we find that the Mackenzies held their lands of the Earls of Ross and afterwards of the Duke of Ross till 1508, when they were all erected into a barony by King James the Fourth, who gave them a crown charter. ”

“ The family was descended from the Mackenzies of Balmanully, a younger branch of the Mackenzies of Gairloch, who claimed as their progenitor Hector, son of Alexander, sixth baron of Kintail. Forbes Mackenzie was educated for the law, and was called to the bar in 1827. ”

“ All the townships in the neighbourhood of the market joined the Mackenzies in the pursuit, and Alastair Mor Bayne of Tulloch only saved himself, after all his men were killed, by taking shelter and hiding for a time in a kiln-logie. Two of his followers, who managed to escape from the market people, met with some Lewismen on their way to the fair, who, noticing the Baynes flying half naked, immediately stopped them, and insisted upon their giving a proper account of themselves. ”

“ This earl’s eldest son was John Mackenzie, Lord Macleod (1727–1789) , who shared his father’s fortunes in 1745 and his fate in 1746. Having pleaded guilty at his trial Macleod was pardoned on condition that he gave up all his rights in the estates of the earldom, and he left England and entered the Swedish army. In this service he rose to high rank and was made Count Cromarty. The count returned to England in 1777 and was successful in raising, mainly among the Mackenzies, two splendid battalions of Highlanders, the first of which, now the Highland Light Infantry, served under him in India. ”

“ General Wade made a report to the Government, from which we take the following extract: "The Laird of the Mackenzies, and other chiefs of the clans and tribes, tenants to the late Earl of Seaforth, came to me in a body, to the number of about fifty, and assured me that both they and their followers were ready to pay a dutiful obedience to your Majesty's commands, by a peaceable surrender of their arms ”

“ MacLean, surprised to hear of such gallant conduct by the Kintail men in the absence of their chief, asked Mackenzie if any of his own kinsmen were amongst them, and being informed they were not, Maclean replied, "It was a great and audacious deed to be done by fellows." "Truly, MacLean," returned Mackenzie, "they were not fellows that were there, but prime gentlemen, and such fellows as would act the enterprise better than myself and kinsmen." "You have very great reason to make the more of them," said Maclean; "he is a happy superior who has such a following." ”

“ Alfred Aberdein, an indigo planter in Tirhoot. He married Kathleen, daughter of John Fraser Mackenzie of Belsund, Tirhoot, with issue - a son Colin. (8) Mary Jane Elsie, who on the 5th of December, 1883, married John Hamilton Fasson, Bengal Civil Service, with issue - Herbert, born in 1885; Elsie Isabel and Hilda. (9) Isabella Leslie.
THE MACKENZIES OF KILLICHRIST, SUDDIE, AND ORD. KENNETH, VII. of Kintail, had a fourth son by his second marriage with Agnes of Lovat, from whom descended the families of Suddie, Inverlael, Little Findon, Ord, Langwell, Highfield, and several minor branches. ”

“ It is believed that no one who brings an independent, unprejudiced. mind to bear upon the question discussed in the preceding pages can help coming to the conclusion that the Colin Fitzgerald theory is completely disposed of. It is indeed extremely doubtful whether such a person ever existed, but in any case it has been conclusively proved by the evidence of those who claim him as their ancestor that he never could have been what they allege - the progenitor of the Mackenzies, whom all the best authorities now maintain to be of purely native Celtic origin. ”

“ All his descendants are said to be extinct.
IV. Colin, who has a sasine of Kinachulladrum in 1721, as "only child now in life, and heir of his brother Roderick." He married Jean, daughter of Robert Laurie, Dean of Edinburgh, with issue - (1) Captain Robert Mackenzie, killed in Flanders, without issue, Colin married, secondly, Lady Herbertshire, with issue, (2) Dr George Mackenzie, who, in 1708, wrote a manuscript "History of the Fitzgeralds and Mackenzies," frequently quoted in this work, and "Lives of Eminent Scotsmen." ”

“ He succeeded to the property, but afterwards sold or alienated it - Rhindoun to the Chisholm Tarradale to his nephew, Dr Murchison; and Arcan to his sister, Elizabeth, widow of John Mackenzie of Sanachan. He died unmarried in 1803, the last male representative of the Lentran Mackenzies. Alexander's daughters were - (1) Anne, who married Donald Macrae, Camusluinie, Kintail, with issue; (2) another, who married Alexander Murchison of Achtertyre, with issue; (3) Janet, who married William Mackenzie of Strathgarve, with issue; (4) Catharine, who married Colin Green, Scatwell, without issue ”

“ She was a woman with square jaws, and a big face, and stout shoulders: but she was not, of her own unassisted height, very tall. But of that tiara and its altitude she was proud, and as she stood in the midst of the stalls, brandishing her umbrella-sized parasol in her anger, the ladies, as they entered, might well be cowed by her presence.
"When ladies say half-past two," said she, "they ought to come at half-past two. Where is the Duchess of St Bungay? I shall not wait for her."
But there was a lady there who had come in behind the Mackenzies, whom nothing ever cowed. ”

“ In these insolencies "he is encouraged and set forward by the consort, reset, and supply which he receives of Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail and his friends, he being near kinsman to the said Kenneth, viz.: his father's sister's son; who, in that respect, shows him all good offices of friendship and courtesy, indirectly assisting him with his men and moyen in all his enterprises against the said complainer and his bairns, without whose oversight and allowance and protection it were not able to him to have a reset in any part of the country." ”

“ At Tarragona he was so mortified with Sir John Murray's conduct, that he almost forgot that he himself was only second in command, and charged Sir John with incapacity and cowardice, for which the latter was tried by Court Martial - General Mackenzie being one of the principal witnesses against him. Full of vigour of mind and body, he took a lively interest in everything in which he engaged, from fishing and shooting to farming, gardening, politics, and fighting. He never forgot his Gaelic, which he spoke with fluency and read with ease. Though a severe disciplinarian, his men adored him. ”

“ Those on shore observing the row, came out in their small boats and seeing Mackenzie, who was a dexterous swimmer, manfully making for Sconsar, on the opposite shore, in Skye, they pelted him with stones, smashed in his brains and drowned him. The few of his men who kept sober, seeing their leader thus perish, resolved to sell their lives dearly; and fighting like heroes, they killed the young laird of Raasay, along with MacGillechallum Mor, author of all the mischief, and his two sons. ”