History Of The Mackenzies
by
Alexander Mackenzie
Part 8 out of 12
who died without lawful issue.
4. Dougal Roy, who inherited Scatwell, and was killed in a family
feud in 1550, and
Three daughters, who married respectively, Bayne of Tulloch, John
Aberach Mackay, and Hugh Bayne Fraser of Bunchrew, a natural son
of Thomas, fourth Lord Lovat, killed at Blar-na-Leine, ancestor of
the Frasers of Reelick.
He had also a son, John Beg, who was according to some authorities
illegitimate, from whom descended several Mackenzies who settled
in Berwick and Alloa.
Hector Roy died in 1528. On the 8th of September in that year,
a grant is recorded to Sir John Dingwall, "Provost of Trinity
College, beside Edinburgh, of the ward of the lands of Gairloch,
which pertained to the umquhile Achinroy Mackenzie." He was
succeeded by his eldest lawful son,
II. JOHN GLASSICH MACKENZIE, who, from the above quoted document,
appears to have been a minor at his father's death. His retour of
service cannot be found, but an instrument of sasine, dated the
24th of June, 1536, in his favour, is in the Gairloch charter chest,
wherein he is designated "John Hector-son," and in which he is
said to be the heir, served and retoured, of his father, Hector
Roy Mackenzie, in the lands of Gairloch, and the grazings of
Glasletter and Coirre-nan-Cuilean. He is said to have objected
to his father's liberality during his life in granting, at the
expense of his successors, to his nephew, John of Kuhn, so much
of his patrimonial possessions. According to the Gairloch MS.
already quoted Hector gave him his own half of Kintail, as well as
Kinellan, Fairburn, Wester Brahan, and "other possessions in the Low
Country besides." John thought these donations far too exorbitant,
and he "sought to retrench them by recovering in part what with
so much profusion his father had given away, and for that, a feud
having ensued betwixt him and his Chief, he was surprised in his
house by night, according to the barbarous manner of the times,
and sent prisoner to Iland Downan, and there taken away by poison
in A.D. l550. His brother Dugal, who sided with him, and John
(Beg), his natural brother, were both slain in the same quarrel."
[Gairloch MS. Another MS. says that his other brother, John Tuach,
was assassinated the same night.]
A bond, dated 1544, has been preserved, to which John Glassich's
name, along with others, is adhibited, undertaking to keep the peace,
and promising obedience to Kenneth, younger of Kintail (Kenneth
na Cuirc), as the Queen's Lieutenant. [Spalding Club Miscellany,
vol. iv. p.213.] John's obedience does not appear, however, to
have been very complete. Kintail having, according to another
authority, received information of John Glassich's intention to
recover if possible part of the property given away by his father,
sent for him to Brahan, where he went, accompanied by a single
attendant, John Gearr. The chief charged him with these designs
against him, and John's denials proving unsatisfactory, Kintail
caused him to be apprehended. John Gearr, seeing this, and feeling
that his master had been treacherously dealt with, drew his two
handed sword and made a fierce onslaught on the chief who sat at
the head of the table, but smartly bowed his head under it, or it
would have been cloven asunder. John Gearr was instantly seized by
Mackenzie's guards, who threatened to tear him to pieces, but the
chief, admiring his fidelity, charged them not to touch him. John
Gearr, on being questioned why he had struck at Mackenzie and took
no notice of those who apprehended his master, boldly replied that
he "saw no one else present whose life was a worthy exchange for
that of his own chief." John's sword made a deep gash in the table,
and the mark, which was deep enough to admit of a hand being placed
edgeways in it, remained until Colin, first Earl of Seaforth,
caused the piece to be cut off, saying that "he loved no such
remembrance of the quarrels of his relations."
John Glassich, it would appear, was not unduly circumspect at
home, or a very dutiful and loyal subject to his King. In 1547
his estate was forfeited for refusing to join the Royal Standard,
and the escheat thereof granted to the Earl of Sutherland, as will
be seen by the following letter in favour of that nobleman:
"A letter made to John, Earl of Sutherland, his heirs, assigns,
one or more, the gift of all goods moveable and unmoveable, debts,
tacks, steadings, corns, and obligations, sums of money, gold,
silver, coined and uncoined, and other goods whatsoever which
pertained to John Hectors - son of Gairloch, and now pertaining to
our Sovereign Lady by reason of escheat through the said John's
remaining and biding at home from the 'oist' and army devised to
convene at Peebles, the 10th day of July instant, for recovering
of the house of Langholm furth of our enemies' hands of England,
in contrary to the tenour of the letters and proclamations made
thereupon, incurred therethrough the pains contained thereuntil,
or any otherwise shall happen to pertain to us our Sovereign by
reason foresaid with power, etc. At Saint Andrews the 23rd day
of July, the year of God, 1547 years." [Reg. Sec. Sig., xxi. fol.
316.]
There is no trace of the reversal of this forfeiture. It does
not, however, appear to have affected the succession. Indeed it
is not likely that it even affected the actual possession, for it
was not easy even for the Earl of Sutherland, though supported by
the Royal authority to wield any real power in such an out-of-the-way
region in those days as John Glassich's possessions in the west.
It has been already stated that, in 1551, the Queen granted to
John Mackenzie, IX. of Kintail, and his heir, Kenneth na Cuirc,
a remission for the violent taking of John Glassich, Dougal, and
John Tuach, his brothers, and for keeping them in prison, thus
usurping "therethrough our Sovereign Lady's authority." None of
them is spoken of in this remission as being then deceased, though
tradition and the family MS. history have it that John Glassich
was poisoned or starved to death at Ellandonnan Castle in 1550. [One
of the family MSS. says that by his marriage "he got the lands of
Kinkell, Kilbokie, Badinearb, Pitlundie, Davochcairn, Davochpollo,
and Foynish, with others in the Low Country, for which the family
has been in the use to quarter the arm of Fraser with their own.
This John, becoming considerably rich and powerful by those
different acquisitions, became too odious to and envied by John,
Laird of Mackenzie, and his son Kenneth then married to Stewart,
Earl of Atholes daughter, that they set upon him, having previously
invited him to a Christmas dinner, having got no other pretence
than a fit of jealousy on account of the said Earl's daughter,
bound him with ropes and carried him a prisoner to Islandownan,
where his death was occasioned by poison administered to him in a
mess of milk soup by one MacCalman, a clergyman and Deputy-Constable
of the Fort."] It is, however, probable that Kintail considered it
wise to conceal John's death until the remission had been already
secured. Only six weeks after the date of the "respitt" John
Glassich is referred to in the Privy Council Records, under date
of 25th July, 1551, as the "omquhile (or late) John McCanze of
Gairlocht," his lands having then been given in ward to the Earl
of Athole, "Ay and till the lawful entry of the righteous heir or
heirs thereto, being of lawful age." [Reg. Sec. Con., vol. xxiv.,
fol. 84.]
Although Hector obtained a charter of the lands of Gairloch in
1494, the Macleods continued for a time to hold possession of
a considerable part of it. According to the traditions of the
district they had all to the east and south-east of the Crasg,
a hill situated on the west side of the churchyard of Gairloch,
between the present Free and Established Churches. At the east
end of the Big Sand, on a high and easily defended rock, stood
the last stronghold occupied by the Macleods in Gairloch - to this
day known as the "Dun" or Fort. The foundation is still easily
traced. It must have been a place of consider-able importance,
for it is over 200 feet in circumference. Various localities are
still pointed out in Gairloch where desperate skirmishes were
fought between the Macleods and the Mackenzies. Several of these
spots, where the slain were buried, look quite green to this day.
The "Fraoch Eilean," opposite Leac-na-Saighid, where a naval
engagement was fought, is a veritable cemetery of Macleods, ample
evidence of which is yet to be seen. Of this engagement, and of
those at Glasleoid, Lochan-an-Fheidh, Leac-na-Saighid, Kirkton,
and many others, thrilling accounts are still recited by a few
old men in the district; especially of the prowess of Domh'ull
Odhar Mac Ian Leith, and the other Kintail heroes who were
mainly instrumental in establishing the Mackenzies of Gairloch
permanently and in undisputed possession of their beautiful and
romantic inheritance.
John Glassich married Janet Agnes, daughter of James Fraser of
Phoineas, brother of Hugh, sixth Lord Lovat (with whom he got the
Barony of Inchlag, etc.), with issue -
1. Hector, his heir and successor.
2. Alexander, who succeeded his brother Hector.
3. John, who succeeded Alexander.
4. A daughter, who married John Mackenzie, II. of Loggie, with
issue.
John Glassich's widow married, secondly, Thomas Chisholm, XV. of
Chisholm, without issue male.
He had also two natural sons before his marriage, Alexander Roy
and Hector Caol.
Alexander Roy had a son John, who lived at Coirre Mhic Cromaill
in Torridon, and who had a son, the Rev. Murdoch Mackenzie,
Chaplain to Lord Reay's Regiment in the Bohemian and Swedish
service, under Gustavus Adolphus. He was afterwards minister of
Contin, Inverness, and Elgin, and subsequently Bishop of Moray
and of Orkney in succession. His family and descendants are
dealt with under a separate heading - MACKENZIES OF GROUNDWATER.
Hector Caol left a numerous tribe in Gairloch, still known as Clann
Eachainn Chaoil, and said to be distinguished by their long and
slender legs.
John Glassich, who was assassinated in 1550, as already stated,
at Ellandonnan Castle, was buried in the Priory of Beauly, and
succeeded by his eldest lawful son,
III. HECTOR MACKENZIE. He has a sasine, dated the 6th May, 1563,
[Gairloch Charter Chest,] in which he is described as "Achyne
Johannis MacAchyne," and bearing that the lands had been in non-entry
for 12 years, thus carrying back the date of his succession to 1551,
when the estate was given in ward to John, fourth of the Stewart
Earls of Athole. Hector died - probably killed, like his brother -
without issue, on the 3rd of September, 1566, and was buried at
Beauly, when he was succeeded by his next lawful brother,
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, who has a retour, dated the 2nd of December,
1566, [Ing. Retour Reg., vol. i., fol. 22, and "Origines Parochiales
Scotiae,"] as heir to "Hector his brother-german," in the lands of
Gairloch, namely, "Gairloch, Kirktoun, Syldage, Hamgildail, Malefage,
Innerasfidill, Sandecorran, Cryf, Baddichro, Bein-Sanderis, Meall,
Allawdall, with the pasturage of Glaslettir and Cornagullan, in
the Earldom of Ross, of the old extent of L8;" but not to any of
the other lands which Hector Roy left to his descendants. Alexander
did not long possess the estates, for he died - to all appearance
assassinated - a few weeks after he succeeded, without making up
titles. It is, therefore, not thought necessary to count him as
one of the Barons of Gairloch.
It is probable that the brothers, Hector and Alexander, met with
the same violent death as their father and uncles, John Glassich,
John Tuach, and John Beg and by the same authors. This is according
to tradition, and an old MS., which says that their mother Agnes
Fraser fled with John Roy "to Lovat and her Fraser relatives,"
adds as to the fate of his brothers that "In those days many acts
of oppression were committed that could not be brought to fair
tryales befor the Legislator." "She was afterwards married to
Chisholm of Comar, and heired his family; here she kept him in
as concealed a manner as possible, and, as is reported, every
night under a brewing kettle, those who, through the barbarity
of the times, destroyed his father and uncles, being in search
of the son, and in possession of his all excepting his mother's
dower. He was afterwards concealed by the Lairds of Moydart
and of Farr, till he became a handsome man and could put on his
weapon, when he had the resolution to wait on Colin Cam Mackenzie,
Laird of Kintail, a most worthy gentleman, who established him
in all his lands, excepting those parts of the family estate for
which Hector and his successors had an undoubted right by writs."
Hector was succeeded by his next brother,
IV. JOHN ROY MACKENZIE, John Glassich's third son, who was at
the time a minor, although his father had been dead for 15 or 16
years; and the estate was given in ward by Queen Mary in 1567.
She "granted in heritage to John Bannerman of Cardeyne, the ward
of the lands and rents belonging to the deceased Hector Makkenych,
of Gairloch, with the relief of the same when it should occur
and the marriage of John Roy Makkenych, the brotherand apparent
heir of Hector." ["Origines Parochiales Scotiae" p. 406, and Reg.
Sec. Sig., vol. xxxvi. fol. 6.] In 1569, John, being then of
"lauchful age," is served and retoured heir to his brother-german,
Hector, in the lands of Gairloch [Ing. Retour Reg., vol. i.,
fol. 22, and "Origines Parochiales Scotiae."] as specified in the
service of 1566, passing over Alexander, no doubt because he
never made up titles. This retour of 1569 gives the date of
Hector's death as 30th September, 1566. In 1574 John has a sasine
which bears that the lands had been seven and a half years in
non-entry, taking it back to the date of Hector's death, three
months before the gift of the ward to John Bannerman. He, in the
same year, acquired half the lands of Ardnagrask from Lord Lovat,
partly in exchange for the rights he inherited in Phoineas from his
mother, and he is described by his Lordship in the disposition as
"the son, by her first husband, of his kinswoman Agnes Fraser."
From this it may be assumed that John Glassich's widow had during
her life made over her own rights to her son or that she had in the
meantime died.
It is found from the old inventory, already quoted, that there
was a charter of alienation by Hugh Fraser of Guisachan, dated the
29th of May, 1582, from which it appears that John Roy in 1574,
acquired Davochcairn and Davochpollo, in Strathpeffer, from this
Hugh Fraser, and that in the first-named year he obtained from
him also the lands of Kinkell-Clarsach and Pitlundie, in terms of
a contract of sale dated the 26th of January, 1581. The charter
is confirmed by James VI. in 1523. It appears from his daughter's
retour of service [Ing. Retours Reg., vol. viii., fol. 284b.] that
Gairloch's eldest son, John, died in 1601. He had been infeft
by his father in Davochpollo and Pitlundie, and married Isabel,
daughter of Alexander Mackenzie II. of Fairburn, by whom he had
a daughter, also named Isabel, who married Colin Mackenzie of
Strathgarve, brother to Kenneth, first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail,
and first of the Mackenzies of Kinnock and Pitlundie. Colin of
Strathgarve entered into a lawsuit with Alexander V. of Gairloch,
probably in connection with this marriage, "to cut him out of his
Low Country estate." ["Colin of Kinnock, who entered a lawsuit
against Alexander Mackenzie of Gairloch, meaning to cut him out
of his low country estates, and being powerfully supported by
Mackenzie of Fairburn and Mr John Mackenzie of Tolly, minister
of Dingwall, a plodding clergyman, kept him sixteen sessions at
Edinburgh; the last year of which Gairloch and his brother Kenneth
seeing Lord Kintail insulted by the Earl of Glencairn, who was
supported by most of those on the street, put on their armour and
came directly to his assistance, and rescuing him from imminent
danger brought him to their lodging. No sooner was the tumult
over than they embraced very cordially, and the whole matter in
debate was instantly taken away, aud Gairloch got a present of
600 merks to finish the Tower of Kinkell, of which his father
(John Roy) only built three storeys." - "Gairloch MS."] In 1657
she mortgaged Davochpollo and Pitlundie to her cousin, Kenneth VI.
of Gairloch; and her successor, John Mackenzie of Pitlundie,
completed the sale to him, which brought the property back again
to the Gairloch family. [Papers in the Gairloch Charter Chest.]
Under date of 11th August, 1587, the following complaint by James
Sinclair, Master of Caithness, and James Paxtoun, his servant,
against John Mackenzie of Gairloch appears in the Records of the
Privy Council - While they "were in a peaceable and quiet manner,"
in March last, in the Chanonry of Ross, within the house of
William Robson, the following persons, viz.: John Mackenzie of
Gairloch, Hector Mackenzie in Fairburn, Meikle John Mackenzie, his
son, Thomas MacThomais Mac Keanoch's son, Donald Macintagairt,
Mr John Mackenzie, son of Murdo Mackenzie of Fairburn, Mr Murdo
Mackenzie, parson of Lochcarron, Duncan Mackenzie, John Beg
Mackenzie's son, Duncan MacCulloch of Achanault, David Aytoun,
master stabler to Colin Mackenzie of Kintail, Finlay Roy, Stewart
to the said Colin, William Barbour, burgess in the Chanonry, with
convocation of the lieges, to the number of 300, "bodin in feir
of weir," and hounded on by the said John Mackenzie of Gairloch,
"had come to the said William Robson's house, wherein the said
complainers were, and had without any occasion of offence, assegeit
the said house and used all means and engines for apprehending of
the said James Sinclair and his said servant." Further, "seeing
they could not goodly recover the said house," they "cried for
fire, and had not failed most treasonably to have risen fire
within the same had not the said complainer delivered the said
James Paxton in their bands, whom they immediately conveyed and
led to the castle of Chanonry pertaining to the said Colin, and
kept and detained him captive therein for the space of two hours
or thereby." After such detention of the said James "they granted
liberty to him to pass home, and the better to cloak their cruel
and unmerciful decree, which openly they durst not put to execution,
they secretly hounded out a great number of cut-throats to have
beset the same James's way and to have bereft him of his life,
which they not failed to have done had not God otherwise prevented
their doings." Moreover, "at that same time they reft and took
away from the said complainers their horses, saddles, and other
gear worth five hundred merks." John Mackenzie of Gairloch,
master and landlord of the foresaid persons, having been charged
to appear personally and enter them this day "to have answered
and underlaid punishment for the premises," according to the
general band, but making no such appearance or entry, while the
complainers appear personally, the Lords order the said Mackenzie
of Gairloch to be denounced rebel.
In 1606 John Roy received a charter of resignation in favour of
himself in life-rent, and of his son, Alexander in fee, erecting
Gairloch into a free barony and in 1619 he obtained another charter,
[These charters are in the Gairloch Charter Chest.] under the Great
Seal, by which Kinkell is included in the barony and constituted
its chief messuage. He built the first three stories of the Tower
of Kinkell, "where his arms and those of his first wife are parted
per pale above the mantelpiece of the great hall." [Gairloch MS.]
The son of Roderick MacAllan "Nimhneach" of Gairloch, in the
absence of young MacGillechallum Garbh of Raasay, who, under the
care of the Laird of Calder escaped the massacre of Island Isay,
possessed himself of Raasay and took up his quarters in Castle
Brochail, the ancient residence of the Chiefs of Macleod, of which
the ruins are still to be seen on the east side of the island.
Seeing this, Donald Mac Neill, who previously sent young Macleod
of Raasay to the protection of Calder brought back the rightful
heir, and kept him, in private, until an opportunity occurred
by which he could obtain possession of the castle. This he soon
managed by coming to terms with the commander of the stronghold,
who preferred the native heir to his relative of the Gairloch
Macleods. It was arranged that when Mac Neill should arrive at the
castle with his charge, access should be given to young Raasay.
The commander kept his word, and MacGillechallum Garbh was soon
after proclaimed laird.
In 1610 a severe skirmish was fought at Lochan-an-Fheidh, in Glen
Torridon, between the Mackenzies - led by Alexander, since his
brother's death in 1601, the apparent heir of Gairloch - and the
Macleods under John MacAllan Mhic Rory, then the only surviving
direct male representative of Allan Macleod of Gairloch and grandson
probably of Rory Nimhneach. John Tolmach, John's uncle was also
present, but he succeeded in effecting his escape, while John MacAllan
and seventeen or eighteen of his followers were taken prisoners. Many
more were killed and a few who escaped alive with John Tolmach were
pursued out of the district. The slain were buried where they fell,
and the graves can still be seen, the nettles which continue to grow
over them at the present day indicating the position of the last
resting-place on the field of battle of these Macleod warriors, on
the west side of the Sgura Dubh, above Glen Torridon, a little beyond
the Gairloch estate march.
Shortly after this engagement another attempt was made by the
Macleods to regain the lands of Gairloch, the history of which is
still a prominent and interesting feature in the local traditions
of the parish. The affair is called "Latha Leac-na-Saighead."
Mr John H. Dixon gives a good version of it, as related to him
by Roderick Mackenzie, locally known as Ruairidh an Torra - an
intelligent man of about ninety who only died two years ago - in
his interesting book on the history and traditions of the parish
of Gairloch. According to Roderick's version, as given by Mr Dixon,
many of the Macleods, after they had been driven from Gairloch,
settled in Skye. A considerable number of the younger men were
invited by their chief to pass Hogmanay night in the Castle of
Dunvegan. In the kitchen there was an old woman known as Mor Bhan,
who was usually occupied in carding wool, and generally supposed to
be a witch. After dinner the men began to drink, and when they had
passed some time in this occupation, they sent to the kitchen for
Mor Bhan. She at once joined them in the hall, and having drunk one
or two glasses along with them, she remarked that it was a very poor
thing for the Macleods to be deprived of their own lands in Gairloch,
and to have to live in comparative poverty in Raasay and the Isle
of Skye. "But," she said to them, "prepare yourselves and start
to-morrow for Gairloch, sail in the black birlinn, and you shall
regain it. I shall be a witness of your success when you return."
The men trusted her, believing she had the power of divination. In
the morning they set sail for Gairloch - the black galley was full
of the Macleods. It was evening when they entered the loch. They
were afraid to land on the mainland, for they remembered that
the descendants of Domhnull Greannach (a celebrated Macrae) were
still there, and they knew the prowess of these men only too well.
The Macleods therefore turned to the south side of the loch, and
fastened their birlinn to the Fraoch Eilean, in the well-sheltered
bay opposite Leac-nan-Saighead, between Shieldaig and Badachro.
Here they decided to wait until morning, then disembark, and walk
round the head of the loch.
But all their movements had been well and carefully watched.
Domhnull Odhar Mac lain Leith and his brother Ian, the celebrated
Macrae archers, recognised the birlinn of the Macleods, and
determined to oppose their landing. They walked round the head
of the loch by Shieldaig and posted themselves before daylight
behind the Leac, a projecting rock overlooking the Fraoch Eilean.
The steps on which they stood at the back of the rock are still
pointed out. Donald Odhar, being of small stature, took the
higher of the two ledges, and Ian took the lower. Standing on
these they crouched down behind the rock, completely sheltered
from the enemy, but commanding a full view of the island, while
they were quite invisible to the Macleods, who lay down on the
island. As soon as the day dawned the two Macraes directed their
arrows on the strangers, of whom a number were killed before
their comrades were even aware of the direction from which the
messengers of death came. The Macleods endeavoured to answer
their arrows, but not being able to see the foe, their efforts
were of no effect. In the heat of the fight one of the Macleods
climbed up the mast of the birlinn to discover the position of
the enemy. Ian Odhar observing this, took deadly aim at him when
near the top of the mast. "Oh," says Donald, addressing John,
"you have sent a pin through his broth." The slaughter continued,
and the remnant of the Macleods hurried aboard their birlinn.
Cutting the rope, they turned her head seawards. By this time
only two of their number were left alive. In their hurry to
escape they left all the bodies of their slain companions unburied
on the island. A rumour of the arrival of the Macleods had during
the night spread through the district, and other warriors, such as
Fionnla Dubh na Saighead, and Fear Shieldaig, were soon at the scene
of action, but all they had to do on their arrival was to assist in
the burial of the dead Macleods. Pits were dug, into each of
which a number of the bodies were thrown, and mounds were raised
over them which remain to this day, as any one landing on the
island may observe.
In 1611, Murdoch Mackenzie, second surviving son of John Roy
Mackenze, IV. of Gairloch, accompanied by Alexander Bayne, heir
apparent of Tulloch, and several brave men from Gairloch, sailed
to the Isle of Skye in a vessel loaded with wine and provisions.
It is said by some that Murdoch's intention was to apprehend John
Tolmach, while others maintain that his object was to secure in
marriage the daughter and heir of line of Donald Dubh MacRory.
The latter theory is far the more probable, and it is the unbroken
tradition in Gairloch. John Macleod was a prisoner in Gairloch, was
unmarried, and easily secured where he was, in the event of this
marriage taking place. By such a union, failing issue by John, then
in the power of John Roy, the ancient rights of the Macleods would
revert to the Gairloch family, and a troublesome dispute would be
for ever settled, if John Tolmach were at the same time captured or
put to death.
It may easily be conceived how both objects would become combined
but whatever the real object of the trip to Skye, it proved disastrous.
The ship found its way - intentionally on the part of the crew, or
forced by a great storm - to the sheltered bay of Kirkton of Raasay,
opposite the present mansion house, where young MacGillechallum
at the time resided. Anchor was cast, and young Raasay, hearing
that Murdoch Mackenzie was on board, discussed the situation
with his friend MacGillechallum Mor MacDhomhnuill Mhic Neill, who
persuaded him to visit the ship as a friend, and secure Mackenzie's
person by stratagem, with the view of getting him afterwards
exchanged for his own relative, John MacAllan Mhic Rory, then a
prisoner in Gairloch. Acting on this advice, young Raasay, with
Gillecallum Mor and twelve of their men, started for the ship,
leaving word with his bastard brother, Murdoch, to get ready all
the men he could, to go to their assistance in small boats as soon
as the a]arm was given.
Mackenzie received his visitors in the most hospitable and
unsuspecting manner, and supplied them with as much wine and other
viands as they could consume. Four of his men, however, feeling
somewhat suspicious, and fearing the worst, abstained from drinking.
Alexander Bayne of Tulloch, and the remainder of Murdoch's men
partook of the good cheer to excess, and ultimately became so drunk
that they had to retire below deck. Mackenzie, who sat between
Raasay and MacGillechallum Mor, had not the slightest suspicion,
when Macleod, seeing Murdoch alone, jumped up, turned suddenly
round and told him that he must become his prisoner. Mackenzie
instantly started to his feet, in a violent passion, laid hold of
Raasay by the waist, and threw him down, exclaiming, "I would scorn
to be your prisoner." One of Raasay's followers, seeing his young
chief treated thus, stabbed Murdoch through the body with his dirk.
Mackenzie finding himself wounded, stepped back to draw his sword,
and, his foot coming against some obstruction, he stumbled over
it and fell into the sea.
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. Young Bayne of Tulloch and his
six inebriated companions who had followed him below, hearing the
uproar overhead, attempted to come on deck, but they were all killed
by the Macleods as they presente themselves through the hold. Not a
soul of the Raasay men escaped alive from the swords of the four who
had kept sober, ably supported by the ship's crew.
The small boats now began to gather round the vessel and the Raasay
men attempted to get on board but they were thrown back, slain,
and pitched into the sea without mercy. The shot and ammunition
having become exhausted, all the pots and pans, and other articles
of furniture on board were hurled at the Macleods, while the four
abstainers plied their weapons of war with deadly effect. Having
procured a lull from the attempts of the enemy, they commenced to
pull in their anchor, when a shot from one of the boats killed one
of them - Hector MacKenneth, "a pretty young gentleman." The other
three seeing him slain, and being themselves more or less seriously
wounded, cut their cable, hoisted sail, and proceeded before a fresh
breeze, with all the dead bodies still lying about the deck. As
soon as they got out of danger, they threw the bodies of young
Raasay and his men into the sea, that they might have the same
interment which their own leader had received, and whose body they
were not able to search for.
It is said that none of the bodies were ever found, except that
of MacGillechallum Mor, which afterwards came ashore, and was
buried, in Raasay. The Gairloch men carried the bodies of Bayne
of Tulloch and his companions to Lochcarron, where they were
decently interred.
The only survivors of the Rausay affair were John MacEachainn
Chaoil, John MacKenneth Mhic Eachainn, and Kenneth MacSheumais.
The first named lived for thirty years after, dying in 1641; the
second died in 1662; and the third in 1663 - all very old men.
Amongst the slain was a son of Mackenzie of Badachro, who is
said to have signally distinguished himself. The conduct of the
Mackenzies of Gairloch was such on this and previous occasions
that they deemed it wise to secure a remission from the Crown,
which was duly granted to them in 1614, by James VI. [Mackenzie's
"History of the Macleods," pp. 361-366.] The document, modernised
in spelling, is as follows:
James R. - Our Sovereign Lord understanding the manifold cruel and
barbarous tyrannies and oppressions so frequent within he Highlands
and Isles, of that (part of) his Highness's Kingdom of Scotland,
before his Majesty's departure furth of the same, that one part
of the inhabitants thereof being altogether void of the true ear
of God, and not regarding that true and loyal obedience they ought
to his Majesty in massing and drawing themselves together n troops
and companies, and after a most savage and insolent form committing
depredations, rieves, "slouthis," and cruel slaughters against
the most honest, godly, and industrious sort of people dwelling
within and bewest the said bounds, who were a ready prey to the
said oppressors, so that the said honest and peaceable subjects
were oft and sundry times, for defence of their own lives, their
wives and children, forced to enter into actions of hostility
against the said limmers and broken men who oft and diverse times
invaded and pursued them with tire and sword, reft and spuilzied
their whole goods, among whom his Majesty, understanding that his
Highness's lovites and true and obedient subjects, John Mackenzie
of Gairloch, Alexander, Kenneth, Duncan, and William Mackenzie,
his sons, dwelling within the Highlands most 'ewest' the Isles
of Skye and Lewis, who many and sundry times before his Majesty's
going to England, has been most cruelly invaded and pursued with
tire and sword by sundry of the said vagabonds and broken men
dwelling and resorting in the Skye and Lewis and other bounds of
the Highlands where they dwell, and has there-through sustained
many and great slaughters, depredations and heirschips, so that
in the very action of the said invasions and hostilities pursued
against them, the said persons in defence of their own lives, their
wives' and children's, and of their goods, have slain sundry of
the said invaders and limmers, taken others of them and thereafter
put them to death, to the great comfort of his Majesty's good,
honest, and true subjects who were subject to the like inroads,
invasions and tyrannies of the said vagabonds and fugitives, and
settling of his Majesty's peace within the bounds and his Majesty
being noways willing that the said John Mackenzie of Gairloch and
his said sons' forawardness in their own defence, and withstanding
of the foresaid open and violent hostilities and tyrannies of the
said broken men which has produced so much and good benefit to his
Majesty's distressed subjects, shall suffer any hurt, prejudice,
or inconvenience against the said John Mackenzie of Gairloch and
his said sons, which his Highness by these letters decrees and
declares to have been good and acceptable service done to his
Highness and the country: Therefore, his Majesty, of his special
grace, mercy, and favour, ordains a letter to be made under his
Highness's Great Seal in due form to the said John Mackenzie of
Gairloch, Alexander, Kenneth, Duncan, and William Mackenzie, his
sons, remitting and forgiving them and everyone of them all rancour,
hatred, action, and crime whatsoever that his Majesty had, has,
or anywise may lay to the charge of the said John Mackenzie or his
said sons, or any of them, for the alleged taking and apprehending,
slaying or mutilating of the said vagabonds and broken men, or
any of them, or for art and part thereof, or for raising of tire
against them, in the taking and apprehending of them, or any of
them, at any time preceding his Majesty's going to England and
of all that has passed or that may pass thereupon, and of every
circumstance thereanent and suchlike. His Majesty, of his especial
grace, taking knowledge and proper motive, remits and forgives the
said persons, and everyone of them, all slaughters, mutilations,
and other capital crimes whatsoever, art and part thereof committed
by them, or any of them, preceding the day and date hereof (treason
in our said Sovereign Lord's own most noble person only excepted),
with all pains and executions that ought and should be executed
against them, or any of them for the same, exonerating, absolving,
and relieving the said John and his said sons, and all of them
of all action and challenge criminal and civil that may be moved
thereupon to their prejudice for ever: Discharging hereby all
judges, officers, magistrates, administrators of his Majesty's laws,
from granting of any proofs, criminal or civil, in any action or
causes to be moved or pursued against the said John Mackenzie or
his sons foresaid for anything concerning the execution of the
premises: Discharging them thereof and their officers in that
employed by them, and that the said letter he extended in the best
form with ill clauses needful and the precepts he directed orderly
thereupon in form as effeirs. Given at Theobald's, the second day
of April, the year of God, 1614 years. [Original in the Gairloch
Charter Chest.]
John Roy purchased or rented the tithes of his lands, which appear
to have led him into no end of disputes. The Rev. Alexander
Mackenzie was appointed minister at Gairloch - the first after
the Reformation - and in 1583 he obtained a decree from the Lords
of the Privy Council and Session ordaining the teind revenue to
be paid to him. At the Reformation Sir John Broik was rector of
the parish; after which it was vacant until, in 1583, James VI.
presented this Alexander Mackenzie to "the parsonage and vicarage
of Garloch vacand in our Souerane Lordis handis contenuallie sen
the reformatioun of the religioun within this realme by the decease
of Sir John Broik." [Reg. Sec. Sig., vol xlix, fol. 62.] In 1584
the Rev. Alexander Mackenzie let the teinds to John Roy for three
lives and nineteen years more, for an annual payment of L12 Scots.
In 1588 the Crown granted a similar tack for a like payment. In
1612 the Rev. Farquhar MacGillechriost Macrae raised an action
against John Roy and his eldest surviving son Alexander for
payment of the teind. A certain Robert Boyd became cautioner for
the teind of 1610; but the action went on for several years, and
was apparently won by the Rev. Farquhar Macrae, who, in 1616, lets
the teind of Gairloch for nineteen years to Alexander Mackenzie,
Fiar of Gairloch, for L80 Scots yearly. Alexander thereupon
surrenders the tithes of the lands of Letterewe, Inverewe, Drumchorc,
and others to Colin Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, who on his part,
as patron of the parish, binds himself not to sanction the set of
these tithes to any other than the said Alexander and his heirs.
[Papers in the Gairloch Charter Chest.]
John Roy married, first, Elizabeth, daughter of Angus Macdonald,
VII. of Glengarry, by his wife, Janet, daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie,
X. of Kintail, by Lady Elizabeth, daughter of John, second Earl
of Athole, with issue -
1. John, who married, as already stated, Isabel, daughter of
Alexander Mackenzie, II. of Fairburn, with issu - an only daughter,
also named Isabel, who, as his second wife, married Colin Mackenzie
of Kinnock, with issue--an only son, who sold back his mother's
jointure lands of Davochpollo and Pitlundie in 1666. John died
before his father, in 1601, at Kinkell, and was buried at Beauly.
2. Alexander, who succeeded to the estates.
3. Murdoch, killed, unmarried, at Raasay in 1611.
4. Kenneth, I. of Davochcairn, who married, first, Margaret,
daughter of James Cuthbert of Alterlies and Drakies, Inverness,
with issue, whose male representation is extinct. He married,
secondly, a daughter of Hector Mackenzie, IV. of Fairburn, also
with issue, of whose present representation nothing is known.
Kenneth died at Davochcairn in 1643, and was buried at Beauly.
5. Duncan of Sand, who married a daughter of Hugh Fraser of
Belladrum, with issue - (1) Alexander, who succeeded him at
Sand; (2) John, who married a daughter of the Rev. George Munro,
minister of Urquhart, and resided at Ardnagrask; (3) Katharine,
who married, first, a son of Allan Macranald Macdonald, heir male
of Moydart, at the time residing at Baile Chnuic, or Hiltown of
Beauly, and secondly, William Fraser of Boblanie, with issue.
(4) A daughter, who married Thomas Mackenzie, son of Murdoch
Mackenzie, IV. of Achilty and (5) a daughter, who married Duncan
MacIan vic Eachainn Chaoil. Duncan died at Sand, from the bite
of a cat at Inverasdale, in 1635, and is buried at Gairloch.
Alexander, who succeeded his father at Sand (retour 1647), married
a daughter of Murdo Mackenzie of Kernsary, fifth son of Colin Cam,
XI. of Kintail, by his wife, Barbara, daughter of John Grant, XII.
of Grant. Murdoch married the eldest daughter of John Mackenzie,
III. of Fairburn, by whom he had, in addition to the daughter who
became the wife of Alexander Mackenzie of Sand, an only lawful
son, John, killed in 1645 at the battle of Auldearn in command
of the Lewis Mackenzie Regiment, whereupon the lineal and sole
representation of the Kernsary family reverted to the descendants
of Alexander Mackenzie of Sand, through Mary, his wife, by whom
he had issue - two sons and two daughters. He was succeeded, in
1656, by the eldest son, Hector, who also succeeded his uncle
John in Ardnagrask. He married Janet Fraser, with issue - John
Mackenzie, who died in 1759, and left a son Alexander, who got a
new tack of Ardnagrask for forty years, commencing in May, 1760;
[Gairloch Papers.] and married Helen Mackenzie, daughter of
Donald, great-grandson of Murdo Mackenzie, V. of Hilton (by his
wife, Jean Forbes of Raddery), by whom he had a large family of
five sons and six daughters. The eldest son, John Mackenzie,
a merchant and Bailie of Inverness, was born at Ardnagrask in
1762, and married Prudence, daughter of Richard Ord, Merkinch,
Inverness, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John, third son
of Alexander, VII. of Davochmaluag, with issue - five sons and
two daughters. Three of the sons died without issue, one of whom
was John, a merchant in Madras. Another, Alexander, married
Maria Lascelles of Blackwood, Dumfries, with issue - John Fraser
Mackenzie, who married Julia Linton, with issue; Alexander, who
married Adelaide Brett, Madras, with issue and four daughters,
Margaret, Jane, Frances, and Maria, of whom two married, with
issue.
Bailie John's second surviving son, the Rev. William Mackenzie,
married Elizabeth Maclaren, with issue - John Ord, who married,
without issue; James, who married, with issue; Richard, who married
Lousia Lyall, with issue Henry, of the Oriental Bank Corporation;
Gordon, of the Indian Civil Service; and Alfred, of Townsville,
Queensland; also Louisa, Isabella, Maria, and Williamina, all
married, the first three with issue.
Bailie Mackenzie's daughters were - Elizabeth, who married
Montgomery Young, with issue; and Jane, who married Provost
Ferguson, of Inverness, with issue - John Alexander, who married,
with issue; Mary, who married the late Walter Carruthers of the
Inverness Courier, with issue; and Agnes Prudence, who married the
Rev. G. T. Carruthers, one of Her Majesty's Chaplains in India.
6. William Mackenzie of Shieldaig, who married a daughter of
the Rev. Murdo Mackenzie, minister of Kintail, with issue - (1)
Murdoch, who married Mary, daughter of Roderick Mackenzie, I. of
Applecross, with issue - Roderick, who, in 1727, married Margaret
Mackenzie, with issue - William Mackenzie, on record in 1736; (2)
Duncan, who married a daughter, by his second marriage, of Hector
Mackenzie, IV. of Fairburn; (3) John, who married a daughter of
Murdo Mackenzie in Sand; (4) Kenneth, who married a daughter of
Hector MacIan vic Eachainn Mackenzie; (5) Hector; (6) Roderick;
(7) Alexander, the last-named three unmarried in 1669; (8) a
daughter, who married Alexander Fraser of Reelick, with issue;
(9) a daughter, who married Hector "Mac Mhic Alastair Roy"; (10)
a daughter, who married Murdo "Mac Ian Mhic Eachainn Chaoil,"
a son of one of the Raasay heroes; (11) a daughter, who married
Hector Mackenzie, Chamberlain in Lochcarron; (12) a daughter, who
married the Rev. Donald Macrae, minister of Lochalsh; and (13)
a daughter, unmarried in 1669. He had also a natural son, John
Mor "Mac Uilleam," who married a natural daughter or Murdoch
Mackenzie, II. of Redcastle.
7. A daughter, who married Fraser of Foyers.
8. Katherine, who married Hugh Fraser of Culbokie and Guisachan.
9. Another Katherine, who married Fraser of Struy.
10. Janet, who married, first, George Cuthbert of Castlehill,
Inverness (marriage contract 29th June, 1611); and secondly Neil
Munro of Findon marriage contract dated 5th of February, 1627).
[Both marriage contracts are in the Gairloch Charter Chest.]
11. A daughter, who married Alastair Mor, brother of Chisholm of
Comar.
John Roy married, secondly, Isabel, daughter of Murdoch Mackenzie,
I. of Fairburn, with issue -
12. Captain Roderick of Pitglassie, who served in the army of the
Prince of Orange, and died, unmarried, in Holland, in 1624.
13. Hector of Mellan, who married, first, the widow of the Rev. John
Mackenzie of Lochbroom, without issue and secondly, a daughter of
Alexander Mackenzie, IV. of Achilty, with issue, five sons - Alexander,
who married a daughter of "Murdo Mc Cowil vic Ean Oig"; Murdo, who
married a daughter of Murdo Mackenzie of Sand and three others
unmarried in 1669.
14. John, a clergyman, who married a natural daughter of Alexander
Mackenzie, I. of Kilcoy, with issue - four sons and two daughters.
He died at Rhynduin in 1666, and is buried at Beauly.
15. Katherine Og, who married Fraser of Belladrum, with issue - from
whom the Frasers of Achnagairn and Seafield.
16. Isabel, who married first, Alastair Og Macdonald [The marriage
contract is in the Gairloch Charter Chest, dated 23rd Jan. 1629.
This gentleman, in the month of November, 1625, killed a man in
Uist named Alexander Mac Ian Mhic Alastair, for which he received a
remission from Charles I., dated at Holyrood, the first of August,
1627, and which Macdonald appears to have deposited in the
Gairloch Charter Chest on his marriage with Isabel of Gairloch.]
of Cuidreach, brother-german to Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat, and
ancestor of the Macdonalds of Cuidreach and Kingsburgh, Isle of
Skye. She married, secondly, Hugh Macdonald of Skirmish.
John had also a natural son, Kenneth Buy Mackenzie, by a woman
named Fraser, who married a daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, IV.
of Achilty; and two natural daughters, one of whom married Donald
Bain, Seaforth's Chamberlain in the Lewis, killed in the battle of
Auldearn in 1645; the other, Margaret, in 1640, married Alexander,
"second lawful son" of John Mackenzie, IV. of Hilton.
He died at Talladale in 1628, in the 80th year of his age; was
buried in the old churchyard of Gairloch, and succeeded by his
eldest surviving son,
V. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, who was advanced in years at his father's
death. He was most active in the duties pertaining to the head
of his house during the life of his father, for it was he who led
the Mackenzies of Gairloch against the Macleods in their repeated
incursions to repossess themselves of their estates, "He was a
valiant worthy gentleman. It was he who made an end of all the
troubles his predecessors were in the conquering of Gairloch from
the Shiel Vic Gille Challum. [Applecross MS.] Very little is
known of him personally, his career having been so much mixed up
with that of his father. By the charter of 1619 he was infeft in
the barony as fiar, and he immediately succeeded on his father's
decease. In 1627, while still fiar or feuer of Gairloch, he obtained
from his son-in-law, John Mackenzie of Applecross (afterwards of
Lochslinn), who married his daughter Isobel, a disclamation of
part of the lands of Diobaig, previously in dispute between the
Lairds of Gairloch and Applecross. In the Gairloch Charter Chest
there is a feu charter of endowment by John Mackenzie of Applecross,
in implement of the contract of marriage with his betrothed spouse,
Isobel, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, younger of Gairloch, dated
6th of June, 1622. After John of Lochslinn's death, she married,
secondly, Colin Mackenzie of Tarvie and there is a sasine in favour
of Margaret, second lawful daughter of this Colin of Tarvie by
Isobel of Gairloch and spouse of Matthew Robertson of Davoch-carty,
in implement of a marriage contract.
A little piece of scandal seems, from an extract of the Presbytery
Records of Dingwall, of date 3rd of March, 1666, to have arisen in
connection with this pair - Matthew Robertson and Margaret Mackenzie.
"Rorie McKenzie of Dochmaluak, compearing desyred ane answer to his
former supplication requiring that Matthew Robertson of Dochgarty
should be ordained to make satisfaction for slandering the said
Rorie with alleged miscarriage with Matthew Robertson's wife. The
brethren considering that by the witness led in the said matter
there was nothing but suspicion and jealousies, and said Matthew
Robertson being called and inquired concerning the said particular,
did openly profess that he was in no wayes jealous of the said
Rorie Mackenzie and his wife, and if any word did escape him upon
which others might put such a construction, he was heartily sorry
for it, and was content to acknowledge so much to Rorie Mackenzie
of Dochmaluak, and crave pardon for the same, which the brethren
taking into their consideration, and the Bishop referring it to them
(as the Moderator reported), they have, according to the Bishop's
appointment, ordered the said Matthew Robertson to acknowledge so
much before the Presbytery to the party, and to crave his pardon in
anything he has given him offence. The which being done by the
said Matthew Robertson, Rory Mackenzie of Dochmaluak did acquiesce
in it without any furder prosecution of it," and we hear no more
of the subject.
In 1637 Alexander proceeded to acquire part of Loggie-Wester from
Duncan Bayne, but the matter was not arranged until 1640, during
the reign of his successor.
Alexander married, first, Margaret, third daughter of Roderick Mor
Mackenzie, I. of Redcastle, by his wife, Finguala or Florence,
daughter of Robert Munro, XVth Baron of Fowlis, with issue -
1. Kenneth, his heir and successor.
2. Murdo of Sand, "predecessor to Sand and Mungastle," [There is
great confusion about the families of the various Sands which we
have not been able to clear up. The following is from the public
records: In 1718 on the forfeiture of the Fairburn estate,
"Alexander" Mackenzie of Sand appeared and deponed that "Murdoch"
Mackenzie of Sand, his father, had a wadset of Mungastle and
certain other lands from Fairburn. In May 1730 "Alexander" Mackenzie
of Sand purchased Mungastle for 3000 merks from Dundonell, who
had meantime become proprietor of it. In January 1744 "Alexander"
Mackenzie of Sand, son of the preceding Alexander, was infeft in
Mungastle in place of his father. In 1741 the above Alexander (the
younger) being then a minor, and John Mackenzie of Lochend being
his curator, got a wadset of Glenarigolach and Ridorch, and in 1745
Alexander being then of full age, apparently purchased these lands
irredeemably. In March 1765 Alexander Mackenzie of Sand, with consent
of Janet Mackenzie, his wife, sold Mungastle, Glenarigolach, etc.
One of the witnesses to this deed of disposition is Alexander
Mackenzie, eldest son to Alexander Mackenzie, the granter of the
deed.] who married the eldest daughter of John Mackenzie, III.
of Fairburn, with issue - a daughter, Margaret, who married Colin
Mackenzie, I. of Sanachan, brother to John Mackenzie, II. of
Applecross.
3. Hector, "portioner of Mellan," and a Cornet in Sir George
Munro's regiment, who married a daughter of Donald Maciver, with
issue - three sons and a daughter, Mary - of whom under MACKENZIES
OF DAILUAINE.
4. Alexander, from whom the author of this History, and of whose
descendants under "SLIOCHD ALASTAIR CHAIM."
5. Isobel, who married John Mackenzie of Applecross (afterwards
of Lochslinn), brother-german to Colin, first Earl of Seaforth.
By him she had issue, a daughter, who married Sir Norman Macleod,
I. of Bernera, with issue - John Macleod of Muiravenside and Bernera,
Advocate. Isobel, on the death of her husband, who was poisoned
at Tam, married secondly, Colin Mackenzie of Tarvie, third son
of Sir Roderick Mackenzie, I. of Coigach, Tutor of Kintail, with
issue. She married, thirdly, Murdoch Mackenzie, V. of Achilty,
without issue.
6. Margaret, who, as his third wife, married Alexander Ross of
Cuilich, from whom the family of Achnacloich.
7. A daughter, who married Robert Gray of Skibo, with issue.
Alexander married, secondly, Isabel, eldest daughter of Alexander
Mackenzie, progenitor of Coul and Applecross, with issue -
8. William of Multafy and I. of Belmaduthy, of whom in their
order.
9. Roderick, who married Agnes, second daughter of Alexander
Mackenzie, I. of Suddie, without issue.
10. Angus, who married the eldest daughter of Hector Mackenzie,
IV. of Fairburn, without issue. Angus "was a brave soldier, and
commanded a considerable body of Highlanders under King Charles the
second at the Torwood. He, with Scrymgeour of Dudhope and other
Loyalists, marched at a great rate to assist the Macleans, who
were cut to pieces by Cromwell's dragoons at Inverkeithing, but
to their great grief were recalled by the Earl of Argyll, General
of the army." [Gairloch Manuscript.]
11. Annabella, who, as his second wife, married Donald Mackenzie,
III. of Loggie, with issue - his heir and successor, and others.
12. Janet, who married Alexander Mackenzie, I. of Ardross and
Pitglassie, progenitor of the present Mackenzies of Dundonnel, with
issue - his heir and successor.
Alexander had also a natural daughter, who, as his first wife,
married George, fourth son of John Mackenzie, I. of Ord, without
issue.
He died, as appears from his successor's retour of service, on the
4th of January, 1638, [In this service we have "Kirktoun with the
manor and gardens of the same," and after a long list of the
townships, the fishings of half the water of Ewe and the rivers Kerry
and Badachro follows, "the loch of Loch Maroy, with the islands
of the same, and the manor place and gardens in the Island of
Illiurory, the loch of Garloch, with the fishings of the same,"
from which it appears that the residence on, Island Rory Beg,
the walls of which and of the large garden are yet distinctly
traceable, was quite as early as that on Island Suthain in which
Alexander died.] in the 61st year of his age, at Island Suthain,
in Loch Maree, where traces of his house still remain. He was
buried with his wife "in a chapel he caused built near the Church
of Gairloch," during his father's lifetime, and was succeeded by
his eldest son,
VI. KENNETH MACKENZIE, a strong Loyalist during the wars of
Montrose and the Covenanters. He was fined by the Committee
of Estates for his adherence to the King, under the Act of 3rd
February, 1646, entitled Commission for the moneys of Excise and
Process against delinquents," in a forced loan of 500 merks, for
which the receipt, dated 15th March, 1647, signed by Kennedy, Earl
of Cassilis, and Sir William Cochrane, two of the Commissioners
named in the Act, and by two or three others, is still extant.
Seaforth was, at the time, one of the Committee of Estates, and
his influence was probably exercised in favour of leniency to the
Baron of Gairloch; especially as he was himself privately imbued
with strong predilections in favour of the Royalists. Kenneth
commanded a body of Highlanders at Balvenny under Thomas Mackenzie
of Pluscardine, and his own brother-in-law, the Earl of Huntly; but
when the Royalist army was surprised and disarmed, he was on a
visit to Castle Grant and managed to effect his escape.
In 1640 he completed the purchase of Loggie-Wester, commenced
by his predecessor, but in order to do so he had to have recourse
to the money market. He granted a bond, dated 20th of October,
1644, for 1000 merks, to Hector Mackenzie, alias MacIan MacAlastair
Mhic Alastair, indweller in Eadill-fuill or South Erradale. On
the 14th of January, 1649, at Kirkton, he granted to the same
person a bond for 500 merks; but at this date Hector was described
as "indweller in Androry," and again, another dated at Stankhouse
of Gairloch (Tigh Dige), 24th of November, 1662; but the lender
of the money is on this occasion described as living in Diobaig.
For the two first of these sums Murdo Mackenzie of Sand, Kenneth's
brother-german, became security.
In 1657 Kenneth is collateral security to a bond granted by the
same Murdoch Mackenzie of Sand to Colin Mackenzie, I. of Sanachan,
brother-german to John Mackenzie, II. of Applecross, for 2000
merks, borrowed on the 20th of March in that year the one-half of
which was to be paid by the delivery at the feast of Beltane or
Whitsunday, 1658, of 50 cows in milk by calves of that year, and
the other half, with legal interest, at Whitsunday, 1659. Colin
Mackenzie, I. of Sanachan, married Murdoch's daughter; the contract
of marriage is dated the same day as the bond, and is subscribed
at Dingwall by the same witnesses.
By letters of Tutorie Dative from Oliver Cromwell, he was, in
1658, appointed Tutor to Hector Mackenzie, lawful son of Alexander
Mackenzie, lawful son of Duncan Mackenzie of Sand, Gairloch. There
is nothing further to show what became of the pupil, Hector,
but it is highly probable that on the death of Alexander, son of
Duncan of Sand, the farm was given by Kenneth to his own brother,
Murdoch, and that the 2000 merks, borrowed from Colin Mackenzie
of Sanachan, who married Murdoch's only daughter, Margaret, may
have been borrowed for the purpose of stocking the farm. The dates
of the marriage, of the bond, and of the Tutorie Dative, so near
each other, strongly support this view.
Kenneth married, first, Katharine, daughter of Sir Donald Macdonald,
IX. of Sleat, without issue. The contract of marriage is dated
5th September, 1635, the marriage portion being the handsome sum
of "6ooo merks, and her endowment 1000 libs Scots yearly." He
married, secondly, Ann, daughter of Sir John Grant of Grant, by
Ann Ogilvy, daughter of the Earl of Findlater (marriage contract
dated 17th October, 1640). There is a charter by Kenneth in
her favour of the lands of Loggie-Wester, the miln and pertinents
thereof, with the grazings of Tolly, in implement of the marriage
contract, dated 4th of December, 1640, with a sasine of the same
date, and another charter of the lands and manor-place of Kinkell
and Ardnagrask, dated the 15th of August, 1655, with sasine
thereon, dated 5th September following. By her Kenneth had issue -
1. Alexander, his heir and successor.
2. Hector, of Bishop-Kinkell, who married Margaret, eldest
daughter of Donald Mackenzie, III. of Loggie, and widow of Roderick
Mackenzie, V. of Fairburn, and with her obtained the lands of
Bishop-Kinkell, to which his son John succeeded.
3. John, who died unmarried.
4. Mary, who, in 1656, married Alexander Mackenzie, at the time
Younger and afterwards III. of Kilcoy, with issue.
5. Barbara, who married, first, Fraser of Kinneries, and secondly,
Alexander Mackenzie, I. of Ardloch, with issue by both.
6. Lilias, who married, as his first wife, Alexander Mackenzie,
II. of Ballone, with issue.
He married, thirdly, Janet, daughter of John Cuthbert of Castlehill
(marriage contract dated 17th December, 1658, the marriage portion
being 3000 merks, and her endowment 5 chalders victual yearly),
with issue -
7. Charles, I. of Letterewe, who, by his father's marriage
contract, got Loggie-Wester, which had been purchased by Kenneth
in 1640. In 1696 Charles exchanged it with his eldest half-brother,
Alexander, VII. of Gairloch, for Letterewe. Charles married Ann,
daughter of John Mackenzie, II. of Applecross, with issue - See
MACKENZIES OF LETTEREWE.
8. Kenneth, who died unmarried.
9. Colin, I. of Mountgerald, who married Margaret, second daughter
of Alexander Mackenzie, I. of Ballone, and widow of Sir Roderick
Mackenzie of Findon, without issue; and secondly, Katharine,
daughter of James Fraser of Achnagairn, with issue - See MACKENZIES
OF MOUNTGERALD.
10. Isabella, who married Roderick Mackenzie, second son of John
Mackenzie, II. of Applecross, with issue, whose descendants now
represent the original Mackenzies of Applecross.
11. Annabella, who married George, third son of Roderick Mackenzie,
V. of Davochmaluag, with issue.
According to the retour of service of his successor, Kenneth died
in 1669, was buried in Beauly Priory, and was succeeded by his
eldest son,
VII. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, who, by a charter of resignation, got
Loggie-Wester included in the barony of Gairloch. It had, however,
been settled on his stepmother, Janet Cuthbert, in life-rent, and
after her on her eldest son, Charles of Mellan and subsequently of
Letterewe, to whom, after her death, Alexander formally disponed
it. They afterwards entered into an excambion by which Alexander
reacquired Loggie-Wester in exchange for Letterewe, which then
became the patrimony of the successors of Charles.
A tradition is current in the Gairloch family that when Alexander
sought the hand of his future lady, Barbara, daughter of Sir
John Mackenzie of Tarbat, and sister-german to the first Earl
of Cromarty and to Isobel Countess of Seaforth, he endeavoured
to make himself appear much wealthier than he really was, by
returning a higher rental than he actually received at the time
of making up the Scots valued rent in 1670, in which year he
married. This tradition is corroborated by a comparison of the
valuation of the shire of Inverness for 1644, published by Charles
Fraser-Mackintosh in "Antiquarian Notes," and the rental of 1670,
on which the ecclesiastical assessments are still based. In the
former year the rental of the parish of Gairloch was L3134 13s
4d, of which L1081 6s 8d was from the lands of the Barony, equal
to 34 1/2 per cent., while in the latter year the valued rental
of the parish is put down at L3400, of which L1549 is from the
barony lands, or 45 1/2 per cent. It is impossible that such a
rise in the rental could have taken place in the short space of
twenty-six years; and the presumption is in favour of the accuracy
of the tradition which imports that the rental was over-valued for
the special purpose of making the Baron of Gairloch appear more
important in the eyes of his future relatives-in-law than he
really was. In 1681 he had his rights and titles ratified by Act
of Parliament, printed at length in the Folio edition.
He married, first, in 1670, Barbara, daughter of Sir John Mackenzie,
Baronet of Tarbat, with issue -
1. Kenneth, his heir and successor.
2. Isobel, who married John Macdonald of Balcony, son of Sir James
Macdonald, IX. of Sleat.
He married, secondly, Janet, daughter of William Mackenzie, I.
of Belmaduthy (marriage contract 30th of January 1679), on which
occasion Davochcairn and Ardnagrask were settled upon her in
life-rent, and on her eldest son at her death, as appears from a
precept of date clare constat, by Colin Mackenzie of Davochpollo,
in favour of William, his eldest surviving son. By her he had
issue -
3. Alexander, who died unmarried.
4. William, who acquired the lands of Davochcairn, and married, in
1712, Jean, daughter of Roderick Mackenzie, V. of Redcastle, with
issue - a son, Alexander, of the Stamp Office, London, and several
daughters. Alexander has a "clare constat" as only son in 1732.
He died in 1772, leaving a son, Alexander Kenneth, who emigrated
to New South Wales, where several of his descendants now reside;
the representative of the family, in 1878, being Alexander Kenneth
Mac-kenzie, Boonara, Bondi, Sydney.
5. John, who purchased the lands of Lochend (now Inverewe), with
issue - Alexander Mackenzie, afterwards of Lochend and George,
an officer in Colonel Murray Keith's Highland Regiment also two
daughters, Lilias, who married William Mackenzie, IV. of Gruinard,
and Christy, who married William Maciver of Tournaig, both with
issue - See MACKENZIES OF LOCHEND.
6. Ann, who, in 1703, married Kenneth Mackenzie, II. of Torridon,
with issue. She married, secondly, Kenneth Mackenzie, a solicitor
in London.
He died in December 1694, at the age of 42, which appears from
his general retour of sasine, dated 25th February, 1673, in which
he is said to be then of lawful age. He was buried in Gairloch,
and was succeeded by his only son by his first marriage,
VIII. SIR KENNETH MACKENZIE, created a Baronet of Nova Scotia,
by Queen Anne, on the 2nd of February, 1703. He was educated at
Oxford, and afterwards represented his native county of Ross in
the Scottish Parliament. He strongly opposed the Union, considering
that if it should take place, it would be "the funeral of his
country." After the succession of Queen Anne he received from her,
in December 1702, a gift of the taxed ward, feu-duties, non-entry,
and marriage dues, and other casualties payable to the Crown, from
the date of his father's death, which, up to 1702, do not appear to
have been paid. Early in the same year he seems to have been taken
seriously ill, whereupon he executed a holograph will and testament
at Stankhouse, dated the 23rd of May, 1702, which was witnessed
by his uncle, Colin Mackenzie of Findon, and by his brother-in-law,
Simon Mackenzie, I. of Allangrange. He appoints as trustees
his "dear friends "John, Master of Tarbat, Kenneth Mackenzie
of Cromarty, Kenneth Mackenzie of Scatwell, Hector Mackenzie,
and Colin Mackenzie, his uncles, and George Mackenzie, II. of
Allangrange. He appointed Colin Mackenzie, then of Findon, and
afterwards of Davochpollo and Mountgerald, as his tutor and factor
at a salary of 200 merks Scots. In May, 1703, having apparently
to some extent recovered his health, he appears in his place
in Parliament. In September of the same year he returned to
Stankhouse, Gairloch, where he executed two bonds of provision, one
for his second son George, and the other for his younger daughters.
He married, in 1696, Margaret, youngest daughter, and, as is
commonly said, co-heiress of Sir Roderick Mackenzie of Findon, but
the Barony of Findon went wholly to Lilias, the eldest daughter,
who married Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Baronet and IV. of Scatwell
another of the daughters, Isobel, married Simon Mackenzie, I. of
Allangrange. There was a fourth daughter, unmarried at the date
of Margaret's contract of marriage and the four took a fourth part
each of Sir Roderick's moveables and of certain lands not included
in the Barony. At the date of his marriage Kenneth had not made
up titles to his estates; but by his marriage contract he is taken
bound to do so as soon as he can. His retour of service was taken
out in the following year.
By Margaret Mackenzie of Findon Kenneth had issue -
1. Alexander, his heir and successor.
2. George, who became a merchant in Glasgow, and died unmarried
in 1739.
3. Barbara, who, in 1729, married George Beattie, a merchant in
Montrose, without issue.
4. Margaret, who died young in 1704.
5. Anne, who, in 1728, married, during his father's life-time,
Murdo Mackenzie, VII. of Achilty, without issue.
6. Katharine, who died young.
Sir Kenneth had also a natural daughter, Margaret, who married,
in 1723, Donald Macdonald, younger of Cuidreach. Sir Kenneth's
widow, about a year after his decease, married Bayne of Tulloch.
Notwithstanding the money that Sir Kenneth received with her, he
died deeply in debt, and left his children insufficiently provided
for. George and Barbara were at first maintained by their
mother, and afterwards by Colin of Findon who had married their
grandmother, widow of Sir Roderick Mackenzie of Findon, while
Alexander and Anne were in even a worse plight.
He died in December 1703, at the early age of 32; was buried in
Gairloch, and succeeded by his eldest son,
IX. SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, the second Baronet, a child only
three and a half years old. His prospects were certainly not
enviable, he and his sister Anne having had for a time, for actual
want of means, to be "settled in tenants' houses." The rental
of Gairloch and Glasletter at his father's death only amounted to
5954 merks, and his other estates in the Low Country were settled
on his mother, Sir Kenneth's widow, for life while he was left
with debts due amounting to 66,674 merks, equal to eleven years
rental of the whole estates. During his minority, however, the
large sum of 51,200 merks was paid off, in addition to 27,635
in name of interest on the original debt; and consequently very
little was left for his education. In 1708 he, along with
his brother and sisters, were taken to the factor's house - Colin
Mackenzie of Findon - where they remained for four years, and
received the rudiments of their education from a young man, Simon
Urquhart. In 1712 they were all sent to school at Chanonry,
under Urquhart's charge, where Sir Alexander remained for six
years, after which, having arrived at 18 years of age, he went to
complete his education in Edinburgh. He afterwards made a tour
of travel, and returning home in 1730 married his cousin, Janet
Mackenzie of Scatwell, on which occasion a fine Gaelic poem was
composed in her praise by John Mackay, the famous blind piper
and poet of Gairloch, whose daughter became the mother of William
Ross, a Gaelic bard even more celebrated than the blind piper
himself. If we believe her eulogist the lady possessed all the
virtues of mind and body but in spite of all these graces the
marriage did not turn out a happy one; for, in 1758, she separated
from her husband on the grounds of incompatibility of temper,
after which she lived alone at Kinkell.
When, in 1721, Sir Alexander came of age, he was obliged to find
means to pay the provision payable to his brother George and to
his sisters, amounting altogether to 16,000 merks, while about
the same amount of his father's debts was still unpaid. In 1729
he purchased Cruive House and the Ferry of Skudale. In 1735 he
bought Bishop-Kinkell; in 1742 Loggie-Riach and, in 1743, Kenlochewe,
which latter property was considered equal in value to Glasletter
of Kintail, sold about the same time. About 1730 he redeemed
Davochcairn and Ardnagrask from the widow of his uncle William,
and Davochpollo from the widow and son James of his grand-uncle,
Colin, I. of Mountgerald. In 1752 he executed an entail of all
his estates; but leaving debts at his death, amounting to L2679
13s 10d more than his personal estate could meet, Davochcairn,
Davochpollo, and Ardnagrask, had eventually to be sold to make up
the deficiency.
In 1738 he pulled down the old family residence of Stankhouse,
or "Tigh Dige," at Gairloch, which stood in a low, marshy, damp
situation, surrounded by the moat from which it derived its name,
and built the present house on an elevated plateau, surrounded
by magnificent woods and towering hills, with a southern front
elevation - altogether one of the most beautiful and best sheltered
situations in the Highlands; and he very appropriately called it
Flowerdale. He greatly improved his property, and was in all
respects a careful and good man of business. He kept out of the
Rising of 1745, and afterwards when John Mackenzie of Meddat applied
to him for aid in favour of Lord Macleod, son of the Earl of
Cromarty, who took so prominent a part in it, and was afterwards in
very tightened circumstances, Sir Alexander replied in a letter
dated at Gairloch, 17th May, 1749, in the following somewhat
unsympathetic terms:
Sir,--I am favoured with your letter, and am extreamly sory Lord
Cromartie's circumstances should obliege him to sollicit the aide
of small gentlemen. I much raither he hade dyed sword in hand
even where he was ingag'd then be necessitate to act such a pairt
I have the honour to be nearly related to him, and to have been
his companion, but will not supply him at this time, for which I
believe I can give you the best reason in the world, and the only
one possible for me to give, and that is that I cannot. [Fraser's
"Earls of Cromartie," vol. ii., p. 230.]
The reason stated in this letter may possibly be the true one;
but it is more likely that Sir Alexander had no sympathy whatever
with the cause which brought his kinsman into such an unfortunate
position, and that he would not, on that account, lend him any
assistance.
Some of his leases, preserved in the Gairloch charter chest, contain
some very curious clauses, many of which would now be described
as tyrannical and cruel, but the Laird and his tenants understood
each other, and they got on remarkably well. The tenants were
bound to sell him all their marketable cattle "at reasonable
rates," and to deliver to him at current prices all the cod and
ling caught by them; and, in some cases, were bound to keep one
or more boats, with a sufficient number of men as sub-tenants,
for the prosecution of the cod and ling fishings. He kept his own
curer, cured the fish, and sold it at 12s 6d per cwt. delivered in
June at Gairloch, with credit until the following Martinmas, to
Mr Dunbar, merchant, with whom he made a contract binding himself,
for several years, to deliver, at the price named, all the cod
caught in Gairloch. [See copy of lease granted by him, in 1760,
of the half of North Erradale, to one of the author's ancestors,
printed at length under the family of "Alastair Cam."]
Sir Alexander married, in 1730, Janet, daughter of Sir Roderick
Mackenzie, second Baronet and V. of Scatwell, with issue -
1. Alexander, his heir and successor.
2. Kenneth, who died in infancy.
3. Roderick, a captain in the army, who was killed at Quebec
before he attained majority.
4. William, a writer, who died unmarried.
5. James, who died in infancy.
6. Kenneth of Millbank, factor and Tutor to Sir Hector, the fourth
Baronet of Gairloch, during the last few years of his minority.
He married Anne, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie of Tolly, with
issue - (1) Alexander, County Clerk of Ross-shire, who married, and
had issue - Alexander, in New Zealand; Kenneth, who married twice,
in India, and died in 1877; and Catherine, who married Murdo
Cameron, Leanaig, with surviving issue - one son, Alexander; (2)
Janet, who married the Rev. Dr John Macdonald, of Ferintosh, the
famous "Apostle of the North," with issue; (3) Catherine, who
married Alexander Mackenzie, a merchant in London, and grandson
of Alexander Mackenzie of Tolly, with issue - an only daughter,
Catherine, who married Major Roderick Mackenzie, VII. of Kincraig,
with issue; (4) Jane, who, in 1808, married the Rev. Hector
Bethune, minister of Dingwall, with issue - Colonel Bethune, who died
without issue; the Rev. Angus Bethune, Rector of Seaham; Alexander
Mackenzie Bethune, Secretary of the Peninsular and Oriental Navigation
Company, married, without issue; and a daughter, Jane, who married
the late Francis Harper, Torgorm. Mrs Bethune died in 1878, aged
91 years.
7 and 8. Margaret and Janet, both of whom died young.
9. Janet, who married Colin, eldest son of David, brother of
Murdo Mackenzie, VII. of Achilty. Murdo leaving no issue, Colin
ultimately succeeded to Achilty, but he seems afterwards to have
parted with it, for in 1784, he has a tack of Kinkell, and dies
there, in 1813, with his affairs seriously involved, leaving a
son John, who died without issue.
Sir Alexander had also a natural son, Charles Mackenzie, ancestor
of the later Mackenzies of Sand, and two natural daughters, one
of whom, Annabella, by a daughter of Maolmuire, or Miles Macrae,
of the family of Inverinate, married John Ban Mackenzie, by whom
she had a daughter, Marsali or Marjory, who married John Mor Og
Mackenzie (Ian Mor Aireach), son of John Mor Mackenzie, grandson
of Alexander Cam Mac-kenzie, fourth son of Alexander, V. of Gairloch,
in whose favour Sir Alexander granted the lease of North Erradale,
already referred to. The other daughter, known as "Kate Gairloch,"
who lived to a very old age, unmarried, was provided for in
comfortable lodgings and with a suitable allowance by the heads
of the family.
He died in 1766, in the 66th year of his age, was buried with his
ancestors in Gairloch, [The old chapel and the burying place of the
Lairds of Gairloch appear to have been roofed almost up to this
date; for in the Tutorial accounts of 1704 there is an item of
30 merks for "harling, pinning, and thatching Gairloch's burial
place."] and succeeded by his eldest son,
X. SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, third Baronet, designated "An
Tighearna Ruadh," or the Red-haired Laird. He built Conon House
between 1758 and 1760, during his father's lifetime. Lady Mackenzie,
who continued to reside at Kinkell, where she lived separated from
her husband, on Sir Alexander's decease claimed the new mansion at
Conon built by her son eight years before on the ground that it was
situated on her jointure lands; but Sir Alexander resisted her
pretensions, and ultimately the matter was arranged by the award of
John Forbes of New, Government factor on the forfeited estates of
Lovat, who then resided at Beaufort, and to whom the question in
dispute was submitted as arbitrator. Forbes compromised it by
requiring Sir Alexander to expend L300 in making Kinkell Castle more
comfortable, by taking off the top storey, re-rooting it, rebuilding
an addition at the side, and re-flooring, plastering, and papering
all the rooms.
Sir Alexander, in addition to the debts of the entailed estates,
contracted other liabilities on his own account, and finding himself
much hampered in consequence, he tried, but failed, to break the
entail, although a flaw has been discovered in it since, and Sir
Kenneth, the present Baronet, having called the attention of
the Court to it, the entail was judicially declared invalid. Sir
Alexander had entered into an agreement to sell the Strathpeffer
and Ardnagrask lands, in anticipation of which Henry Davidson
of Tulloch bought the greater part of the debts of the entailed
estates, with the view of securing the consent of the Court to the
sale of Davochcairn and Davochpollo afterwards to himself. But on
the 15th of April, 1770, before the transaction could be completed,
Sir Alexander died suddenly from the effects of a fall from his
horse. His financial affairs were seriously involved, but having
been placed in the hands of an Edinburgh accountant, his creditors
ultimately received nineteen shillings in the pound.
He married, first, on the 29th of November, 1755, Margaret, eldest
daughter of Roderick Mackenzie, VII. of Redcastle, with issue -
1. Hector, his heir and successor.
She died on the 1st of December, 1759.
He married, secondly, in 1760, Jean, daughter of John Gorry of
Balblair, and Commissary of Ross, with issue -
2. John, who raised a company, almost wholly in Gairloch, for the
78th Regiment of Ross-shire Highlanders when first embodied, of
which he himself obtained the Captaincy. He rose rapidly in rank.
On the 3rd of May, 1794, he attained to his majority; in the
following year he is Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment Major-General
in the army in 1813; and full General in 1837. He served with
distinction and without cessation from 1779 to 1814. So marked
was his daring and personal valour that he was popularly known
among his companions in arms as "Fighting Jack." He was at the
Walcheren expedition; at the Cape; in India; in Sicily; Malta;
and the Peninsula and though constantly exhibiting numberless
instances of personal daring, he was only once wounded, when on
a certain occasion he was struck with a spent ball on the knee,
which made any walking somewhat troublesome to him in after life.
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. He was in the habit of saying that it gave
him more pleasure to meet a dog from Gairloch than a gentleman
from any other place. When the 78th returned from the Indian
Mutiny the officers and men were feted to a grand banquet by the
town of Inverness, and as the regiment marched through Academy
Street, where the General resided, they halted opposite his
residence, next door above the Station Hotel; and though so frail
that he had to be carried, he was taken out and his chair placed
on the steps at the door, where the regiment saluted and warmly
cheered their old and distinguished veteran commander, who
had so often led their predecessors to victory; and at the time
the oldest officer in and "father" of the British army. He was
much affected, and wept with joy at again meeting his beloved
78th - the only tears he was known to have shed since the days of
his childhood. He married Lilias, youngest daughter of Alexander
Chisholm, XXII. of Chisholm, with issue - (1) Alastair, an officer
in the 90th Light Infantry, who afterwards settled down and
became a magistrate in the Bahamas, where, in 1839, he married
an American lady, Wade Ellen, daughter of George Huyler, Consul
General of the United States, and French Consul in the Bahama
Islands, with issue - a son, the Rev. George William Russel
Mackenzie, an Episcopalian minister, who on the 2nd of August,
1876, married Annie Constance, second daughter of Richard, son
of William Congreve of Congreve and Burton, with issue - Dorothy
Lilias; (2) a daughter, Lilias Mary Chisholm, unmarried. Alastair
subsequently left the Bahamas, went to Melbourne, and became
Treasurer for the Government of Victoria, where he died in 1852.
General Mackenzie died on the 14th of June, 1860, aged 96 years,
and was buried in the Gairloch aisle in Beauly Priory.
3. Kenneth, who was born on the 14th of February, 1765, was a
Captain in the army, and served in India, where he was at the
siege of Seringapatam. He soon after retired from the service,
and settled down as a gentleman farmer at Kerrisdale, Gairloch.
He married Flora, daughter of Farquhar Macrae of Inverinate, with
issue, three sons and four daughters - (1) Alexander, a Captain
in the 58th Regiment, who married a daughter of William Beibly,
M.D., Edinburgh, with issue; (2) Hector, a merchant in Java, where
he died, unmarried; (3) Farquhar, a settler in Victoria, where
he married and left issue - Hector, John, Violet, Mary, and Flora;
(4) Jean, who married William H. Garrett, of the Indian Civil
Service, with issue - two sons, Edward and William, and four
daughters, Eleanor (now Mrs Gourlay, The Gows, Dundee); Flora,
Emily, and Elizabeth; (5) Mary, who married, first, Dr Macleod,
Dingwall, without issue and, secondly, Murdo Mackenzie, a Calcutta
merchant, also without issue; (6) Christian Henderson, who married
John Mackenzie, solicitor, Tam, a son of George Mackenzie, III.
of Pitlundie, with issue--two sons, both dead, one of whom left
a son, Charles; (7) Jessie, who married Dr Kenneth Mackinnon, of
the Corry family, H.E.I.C.S., Calcutta.
4. Jean, who died young.
5. Margaret, who married Roderick Mackenzie, II. of Glack, with
issue.
6. Janet, who married Captain John Mackenzie Woodlands, son of
George Mackenzie, II. of Gruinard, without issue.
Sir Alexander had also a natural daughter, Janet, who married John
Macpherson, Gairloch, with issue.
The second Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch, Jean Gorry, died in 1766,
probably at the birth of her last daughter, Janet, who was born on
the 14th of October in that year, and Sir Alexander himself died
on the 15th of April, 1770. He was buried in Gairloch, and was
succeeded by his eldest son,
XI. SIR HECTOR MACKENZIE, the fourth Baronet, generally spoken
of among Highlanders as "An Tighearna Storach," or the Buck-toothed
Laird. Being a minor, only twelve years of age when he succeeded,
his affairs were managed by the following trustees appointed by his
father - John Gorry; Provost Mackenzie of Dingwall, and Alexander
Mackenzie, W.S., son and grandson respectively of Charles Mackenzie,
I. of Letterewe; and Alexander Mackenzie, of the Stamp Office,
London, son of William Mackenzie of Davochcairn. These gentlemen did
not get on so harmoniously as could be wished in the management
of the estate. The first three opposed the last-named, who was
supported by Sir Hector and by his grandfather and his uncle of
Redcastle. In the month of March, 1772, in a petition in which Sir
Hector craves the Court for authority to appoint his own factor,
he is described as "being now arrived at the age of fourteen years."
The differences which existed between the trustees finally landed
them in Court, the question specially in dispute being whether
the agreement of the late Sir Alexander to sell the Ardnagrask
and Strathpeffer lands should be carried out? In opposition to
the majority, the Court decided in favour of Sir Hector that they
should not be sold until he arrived at an age to judge for himself.
Having secured this decision, Sir Hector, thinking that Mr Gorry had
been acting too much in the interest of his own grandchildren - Sir
Alexander's children by the second marriage - now appointed a factor
of his own, Kenneth Mackenzie, his half uncle, the first "Millbank."
In 1789 he obtained authority from the Court to sell the lands
which his father had previously arranged to dispose of to enable
him to pay the debts of the entailed estates. He sold the lands
of Davochcairn and Davochpollo to Henry Davidson of Tulloch,
and Ardnagrask to Captain Rose, Beauly, who afterwards sold it
to Mackenzie of Ord.
In 1815 he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of his native county. He
lived generally at home among a devoted tenantry; and only visited
London once during his life. He regularly dispensed justice among
his Gairloch retainers without any expense to the county, and to
their entire satisfaction. He was adored by the people, to whom
he acted as a father and friend, and his memory is still green
among the older inhabitants, who never speak of him but in the
warmest terms for his generosity, urbanity, and frankness, and for
the kind and free manner in which he always mixed with and
addressed his tenants. He was considered by all who knew him the
most sagacious and intelligent man in the county. He employed no
factor after he came of age, but dealt directly and entirely with
his people, ultimately knowing every man on his estates, so that
he knew from personal knowledge how to treat each case of hardship
and inability to pay that came before him, and to distinguish
feigned from real poverty. When he grew frail from old age he
employed a clerk to assist him in the management, but he wisely
continued landlord and factor himself to his dying day. When Sir
Francis, his eldest son, reached a suitable age, instead of
adopting the usual folly of sending elder sons to the army that
they might afterwards succeed to the property entirely ignorant
of everything connected with it, he gave him, instead of a yearly
allowance, several of the farms, with a rental of about L500 a
year, over which he acted as landlord or tenant, until his
father's death, telling him "if you can make more of them, all the
better for you." Sir Francis thus grew up interested in and
thoroughly acquainted with all property and county business, and
with his future tenants, very much to his own ultimate advantage
and those who afterwards depended upon him.
Sir Hector also patronised the Gaelic poets, and appointed one of
them, Alexander Campbell, better known as "Alastair Buidhe Mac
Iomhair," to be his ground-officer and family bard, and allowed
him to hold his land in Strath all his life rent free. [The late
Dr John Mackenzie of Eileanach, Sir Hector's youngest son, makes
the following reference, under date of August 30, 1878, to the
old bard: "I see honest Alastair Buidhe, with his broad bonnet
and blue great coat (summer and winter) clearly before me now,
sitting in the dining room at Flowerdale quite 'raised' - like while
reciting Ossian's poems, such as 'The Brown Boar of Diarmad,' and
others (though he had never heard of Macpherson's collection) to
very interested visitors, though as unacquainted with Gaelic as
Alastair was with English. This must have been as early as 1812
or so, when I used to come into the room after dinner about nine
years old." Alastair Buidhe, the bard, was the author's
great-grandfather on the maternal side, and he was himself, on his
mother's side, descended from the Mackenzies of Shieldaig.] He
gave a great impetus to the Gairloch cod fishing, which he
continued to encourage as long as he lived.
Sir Hector married, in August, 1778, Cochrane, daughter of James
Chalmers of Fingland, without issue; and the marriage was dissolved
by arrangement between the parties on the 22nd of April, 1796.
In the same year, the marriage contract being dated the "9th May,
1796," within a month of his separation from his first wife, Sir
Hector married, secondly, Christian, daughter and only child of
William Henderson, Inverness, a lady who became very popular
with the Gairloch people, and is still affectionately remembered
amongst them as "A Bhantighearna Ruadh," [Dr John, late of
Eileanach, writes of her and her father as follows: His second
wife was only child of William Henderson, from Aberdeenshire
(cousin of Mr Coutts, the London banker, with whom, in consequence
of the relationship, my elder brothers, Francis and William,
were on intimate terms in Stratton Street, Piccadilly, where Lady
Burdett Coutts now lives), who set up a Bleachfield at the Bught,
Inverness, by a daughter of Fraser of Bught. Henderson followed his
daughter to Conon, as tenant of Riverford, where, till very old,
he lived, and then moved to Conon House, till he died about 1816,
loved by all, aged 97. I think he is buried in the Chapel-Yard,
Inverness."] with issue -
1. Francis Alexander, his heir and successor.
2. William, a merchant in lava, and afterwards in Australia. He
died, unmarried, in 1860, at St. Omer France.
3. Hector, who married Lydia, eldest daughter of General Sir
Hugh Fraser of Braelangwell; was Captain in H.E.I.C.S., and died
in India, without surviving issue.
4. Dr John, of Eileanach. He studied for the medical profession,
and took his degree of M.D. He was factor for the trustees of Sir
Kenneth, the present Baronet, during his minority, and afterwards
for several years, Provost of Inverness. He married, on the 28th
of September, 1826, Mary Jane, only daughter of the Rev. Dr Inglis
of Logan Bank and old Greyfriars, Edinburgh, Dean of the Chapel
Royal, and sister of the late distinguished Lord Justice-General
Inglis, President of the Court of Session, with issue - (1) Colonel
Hector, who was born on the 24th of August, 1828, and went to India
in his twentieth year, fought at Chilianwallah and Goojerat, and
was afterwards, until he retired in 1877, in the Civil Service,
chiefly as Judicial Commissioner for Central India at Nagpore.
He married on the 9th of May, 1855, Eliza Ann Theophila, eldest
daughter of General Jamieson, of the H.E.I.C.S., without issue;
(2) John Inglis, who died in 1843, in the 6th year of his age; (3)
Harry Maxwell, who was born on the 16th of May, 1839, a Colonel
in the Royal Artillery. He married on the 7th of September, 1872,
Caroline Georgina, eldest daughter of Captain Ponsonby, Indian
Staff Corps, Deputy Quarter-Master-General in Scinde, with issue,
six sons and four daughters - Hector Ian Maxwell, born on the 14th
of June, 1875; Harry Ponsonby, born on the 30th of March, 1877;
Kenneth Gordon, born on the 6th of July, 1878; Allan Stewart, born
on the 27th of October, 1881, and died in infancy; Colin Ray,
born on the 7th of May, 1887 Alastair Ponsonby, born on the 25th
of June, 1889 Margaret; Mary; Lillian Kythe; Kythe; and Gladys
Georgina. Colonel Mackenzie, after retiring from the Service,
resided at Auld Castlehill, Inverness, was Inspector for the Science
and Art Department in the North, and died suddenly, at Wick, on
the 13th of July, 1891; (4) Mary, who as his fourth wife, married
Duncan Davidson of Tulloch, with issue - Eoin Duncan Reginald,
a settler in Queensland; Hector Francis, in New Zealand Alastair
Norman, in Queensland; Lucy Eleonora, who, in 1873, married Sir
Allan R. Mackenzie, Baronet of Glenmuick, with issue, four sons
and a daughter - Allan James Reginald, born in 1880; Victor Audley
Falconer, born in 1882; Allan Keith, born in 1887; Eric Dighton,
born in 1891; and Mary Lucy Victoria. Tulloch's other daughters
were Mary Macpherson and Victoria Geraldine. His wife died on the
27th of October, 1867. (5) Christina Isabella, who, on the 23rd
of November, 1853, married Charles Addington Hanbury of Strathgarve,
Ross-shire, and Belmont, Herts, with issue, four sons and four
daughters - Harold Charles, of the Carabineers; John Mackenzie;
Basil; David Theophilus; Florence Mary; Kithe Agatha, who on the
10th of April, 1877, married Horace William Kemble, Hon. Major
2nd Cameron Highlanders, of Oakmere, Herts, at present tenant of
Knock, Isle of Skye, with issue - Horace Leonard, born on the 22nd
of April, 1882, Dorothea Lucinda, Hilda Olive, and Kythe Louisa
Elaine; Isabel, who married Major O. F. Annesley, R.A., with
issue - two daughters, Daphne and Myrtle; and Marie Frances Lisette
(6) Kithe Caroline who on the 12th of April, 1865, married Francis
Mackenzie, third son of Thomas Ogilvie of Corriemony, with issue,
seven children; (7) Lisette, who on the 28th of June, 1878, married
Frederick Louis Kindermann, son of Mr Kindermann, founder of the
house of Keith & Co., London and Liverpool, without issue; (8)
Georgina Elizabeth, who on the 26th of January, 1860, married the
late Duncan Henry Caithness Reay Davidson of Tulloch (who died
on the 29th of March, 1889), with issue - Duncan, now of Tulloch,
who on the 15th of November, 1887, married Mary Gwendoline, eldest
daughter of William Dalziel Mackenzie of Fawley Court, Bucks, and
of Farr, County of Inverness; John Francis Barnard Mary; Elizabeth
Diana; Adelaide Lucy; Georgianna Veronnica; and Christina Isabella.
Dr John of Eileanach died on the 18th of December, 1886. His
widow still survives.
5. Roderick, a Captain in the army, who sold out and became a
settler in Australia, where he died. He married an Irish lady,
Meta Day, sister of the Bishop of Cashel, without issue, and died
in 1849.
Sir Hector had also, by his housekeeper, Jean Urquhart, three
natural children, which caused his separation from his first wife.
He made provision for them all. 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.
Sir Hector's widow survived him for about twelve years, first
living with her eldest son Sir Francis, and after his marriage
at Ballifeary, now Dunachton, on the banks of the Ness. Though
he succeeded to the property under such unfavourable conditions
though his annual rental was under L3000 per annum; and though he
kept open house throughout the year both at Conon and Gairloch,
he was able to leave or pay during his life to each of his younger
sons the handsome sum of L5000. When pressed, as he often was, to
go to Parliament he invariably asked, "Who will then look after
my people?"
He died on the 26th of April, 1826; was buried in the Priory of
Beauly, and succeeded by his eldest son,
XII. SIR FRANCIS ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, fifth Baronet, who,
benefitting by his father's example, and his kindly treatment
of his tenants, grew up interested in all county affairs. He was
passionately fond of all manly sports, shooting, fishing, and
hunting. He resided during the summer in Gairloch, and for the
rest of the year kept open house at Conon. During the famine of
1836-37 he sent cargoes of meal and seed potatoes to the Gairloch
tenantry, which, with some heavy bill transactions he had entered
into to aid an old friend, William Grant of Redcastle, at the time
carrying on the Haugh Brewery, Inverness, involved him in financial
difficulties. This induced him, in 1841, to get his brother, Dr
John Mackenzie of Eileanach, to take charge of his affairs, going
himself along with his second wife for a few years to Brittany,
where his youngest son, Osgood Hanbury Mackenzie, now of Inverewe,
was born. To get clear of the liability incurred with Grant, Dr
John had ultimately to pay down L7000.
In 1836 Sir Francis published a work on agriculture, entitled
"Hints for the use of Highland Tenants and Cottagers," extending
to 273 pages, with English and Gaelic on opposite pages, which
shows his intimate knowledge of the subject, as well as the
great interest which he took in the welfare of his tenantry - for
whose special benefit the book was written. It deals first,
with the proper kind of food and how to cook it; with diseases
and medicine, clothing, houses, furniture, boats, fishing and
agricultural implements; cattle, horses, pigs, and their diseases;
gardens, seeds, fruits, vegetables, education, morals, etc.,
etc., with illustrations and plans of suitable cottages, barns,
outhouses, and farm implements.
He married, first, in the 31st year of his age, on the 10th of
August, 1829, Kythe Caroline, eldest daughter of Smith-Wright of
Rempstone Hall, Nottinghamshire, with issue -
1. Kenneth Smith, the present Baronet.
2. Francis Harford, born in 1833, unmarried.
He married, secondly, on the 25th of October, 1836, Mary, daughter
of Osgood Hanbury of Holfield Grange, Essex, the present Dowager
Lady Mackenzie, residing at Letterewe, with issue -
3. Osgood Hanbury, born on the 13th of May, 1842. In 1862 he
bought Kernsary from his brother Sir Kenneth, and in 1863 Inverewe
and Tournaig from Sir William Mackenzie, IX. of Coul. On the
26th of June, 1877, he married Mina Amy, daughter of Sir Thomas
Edwards-Moss, Baronet of Otterspool, Lancashire, with issue, a
daughter, Mary Thyra.
Sir Francis died on the 2nd of June, 1843, from inflammation of the
arm, produced by bleeding--then a common practice for all manner
of complaints - by his intimate personal friend, Robert Liston,
the celebrated surgeon. He was succeeded by his eldest son,
XIII. SIR KENNETH SMITH MACKENZIE, sixth and present Baronet,
who was born on the 25th of May, 1832, and has long been considered
one of the best and most enlightened landlords in the Highlands.
Following the example of his father and grandfather he for many
years dealt directly with his people, without any factor, or
other intermediary, except an estate manager at Gairloch, and,
like his ancestors, took a personal interest in every man on his
property. He takes an active and intelligent part in all county
matters; is Convener of the Commissioners of Supply and of the
County Council, and is Lord-Lieutenant for Ross and Cromarty.
In 1854 he was appointed Attache to Her Majesty's Legation at
Washington, which, however, he never joined. In 1855 he received
a commission as Captain in the Highland Rifle (Ross-shire) Militia,
afterwards attained the rank of Major, and ultimately retired.
In 1880 he contested the county of Inverness as a Liberal against
Donald Cameron of Lochiel, the Tory candidate, but was defeated
by a majority of 28. In 1883-84 he was a member of the Royal
(Napier) Commission to enquire into the condition and grievances
of the Highland crofters. In 1885 he again contested the county
of Inverness as the official Liberal candidate against Reginald
Macleod in the Tory interest and Charles Fraser-Mackintosh as the
Independent Land Law Reform candidate, when he was again defeated.
On the 11th of December, 1860, he married Eila Frederica, daughter
of Walter Frederic Campbell of Islay, with issue -
1. Kenneth John, Younger of Gairloch, who was born on the 6th of
October, 1861, late Captain in the Rifle Brigade. On the 8th of
April, 1891, he married the Hon. Marjory Lousia Murray, eldest
daughter of the late William David Viscount Stormont (who died
in 1893), eldest son of the present and fourth Earl of Mansfield,
K.T., by Emily Louisa, daughter of the late Sir John Atholl Macgregor
of Macgregor, Baronet, with issue - Hector David, who was born on
the 6th of June, 1893; and Marjory Kythe.
2. Francis Granville, who was born on the 31st of August, 1865;
and
3. Muriel Katharine.
"Arms" - Quarterly: 1st and 4th, azure, a buck's head cabossed or;
2nd and 3rd, asure, three frasers argent. "Crest" - A Highlander
wielding a sword, proper. "Mottoes" - Over crest, "Virtute et valore;"
under, "Non sine periculo."
THE MACKENZIES OF LOCHEND.
I. JOHN MACKENZIE, first of Lochend, was the third son of Alexander
Mackenzie, VII. of Gairloch, by his second wife, Janet, daughter
of William Mackenzie, I. of Belmaduthy. He purchased the lands
of Lochend and married Annabella, second daughter and nineteenth
child of George Mackenzie, II. of Gruinard, by his first wife,
Margaret, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, II. of Ballone with
issue -
1. Alexander, his heir and successor.
2. George, an officer in Murray Keith's Highland Regiment, afterwards
successively Major and Lieutenant-Colonel of the 78th or Seaforth
Highlanders, and of whose family and descendants presently.
3. Lilias, who married William Mackenzie, IV. of Gruinard (sasine
1742), with issue - four sons and three daughters.
4. Christina, who married William Mac Iver of Tournaig, with
issue.
John Mackenzie of Lochend was Guardian or Tutor to his nephew, Sir
Alexander Mackenzie, IX. and second Baronet of Gairloch, in 1728.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
II. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, who married, first, Anne, second daughter
of Colin Mackenzie, I. of Mountgerald, with issue -
1. Lewis, who died before his father, unmarried.
2. John, who succeeded to the estate of Lochend.
3. Alexander, who was married, but of whom nothing further is
known.
4. James, of whom there is no trace.
5. Annabella, who married John Mac Iver, Stornoway, with issue.
6. Lilias, who married Iver Mac Iver, Gress, Lewis, with issue.
He married secondly, Annabella, daughter of Sutherland of Little
Torboll, with issue -
7. Lewis, of whom nothing is known.
8. Elizabeth, who married a Mr Mackenzie, with issue.
Alexander was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
III. CAPTAIN JOHN MACKENZIE, third of Lochend, who married
first, a daughter of Mr Morrison, in the Lewis, with issue -
1. Anne, who married Kenneth Gardiner, Leith.
He married, secondly, a daughter of Roderick Morrison, Island of
Tanera, with issue -
2. Annabella, who married Neil Morrison, Sailing Master, Royal
Navy, with issue.
3. Sybella, who married Lieutenant William Ryrie, of the Royal
Marines, with issue.
4. Ellen, who married John Mackenzie, Ullapool, of the Sand family,
who resided in Tanera, without issue.
Captain John married, thirdly, a daughter of Collector John Reid,
Stornoway, with issue--
5. Anne, who married Alexander Stewart, Chamberlain of the Lewis,
and afterwards factor for the Duke of Sutherland at Scourie.
6. Alexander, who died before his father, unmarried.
7. John Reid, who succeeded to Lochend.
8. Daniel Lewis, who married Helen Mackay, widow of his cousin,
Donald Macdonald, master mariner, with issue - Aeneas, unmarried,
and Agnes Ann, who married Murdoch Mac Iver, a London merchant,
with issue - a son, Kenneth, and three daughters, one of whom, Helen
Isabella, married Donald MacIver, merchant, Currachee, India.
9. James Reid, M.D., who married his cousin, a daughter of Captain
Donald Reid, of Eilean Riach, without issue.
10. Margaret, alive as late as August, 1881, unmarried.
He was succeeded as representative of the family by his eldest son,
IV. JOHN REID MACKENZIE, fourth of Lochend, who married Miss
Mackenzie Morrison, daughter of Captain John Morrison, RN., and
sister of Mrs Stewart, wife of the Rev. Alexander Stewart, LL.D.,
"Nether-Lochaber." He died in New Zealand in 1879, and his wife
died in the following year, leaving issue -
1. John Alexander, his heir.
2. Daniel Lewis.
3. Agnes.
4. Kennethina.
5. Christina Mary.
He was succeeded as representative of the family by his eldest son,
V. JOHN ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, fifth of Lochend, now at the head
of a large Insurance Company, in the City of New York.
COLONEL GEORGE MACKENZIE, second son of John Mackenzie, I. of
Lochend, served first as an officer in Murray Keith's Highland
Regiment, and was subsequently, in September 1780, appointed
Major in the 78th or Seaforth Highlanders. He was on Sir David
Baird's Staff in India, and was present at the storming of Seringapatam.
In 1783 he was promoted to the rank of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel.
In 1791 he was killed near Inverness, by the upsetting of a coach
in which he was a passenger. He married Christina, daughter of
Captain Hector Munro of Braemore, with issue -
1. John, a Captain in the army, who married Miss Fraser, with
issue - George, a Lieutenant in the 2nd or Queen's Regiment, who
died, unmarried, in Madras; and Poyntz, Lieutenant 79th Cameron
Highlanders, who died, unmarried, in North America, in 1843.
2. Poyntz, Paymaster 72nd Highlanders, who died unmarried, at
Antigua, in the West Indies.
3. Alexander, who joined the army on the 9th of September, 1795,
as Ensign in the 39th Regiment. He obtained his Lieutenancy on
the 27th of February, 1796, was in June 1802 exchanged to the 60th
Rifles, and on the 27th of April, 1809, promoted to a Captaincy
in the 81st Regiment. During this period he saw much service in
the Peninsula, and was subsequently engaged in the expedition to
Flushing, for which he received the war medal with four clasps.
On the 31st of October, 1811, he exchanged to the York Light
Infantry, then serving in Jamaica; was placed on half-pay on the
reduction of that regiment on the 19th of March, 1817; appointed
to the Royal Newfoundland Companies on the formation of that corps
on the 25th of July, 1824, and promoted to the rank of Major in
July, 1830. He retired from the Army in 1836 and died in Canada
in 1852. He married, first, Eliza, daughter of Captain John
Sutherland, of Shiberscross, Sutherlandshire, with issue - (1)
Mary Maxwell, who married Garland Crawford Gordon, St. John's,
Newfoundland with issue. She (Mary Maxwell) died in 1852. Major
Alexander married, secondly, Eliza Frances, daughter of William
Brown, of Lucea, Jamaica, with issue - (2) ALEXANDER WILLIAM
MACKENZIE, Lieutenant-Colonel, who joined the 1st West India
Regiment as Ensign, on the 3rd of February, 1839, and obtained
his Captaincy on the 1st of January, 1847. He retired from this
regiment in January, 1850, but was re-appointed to the Service as
Regimental Paymaster in December 1854 - a position in which
he subsequently served in the 48th, 54th, 3rd West India and the
21st and 18th Regiments, until he was transferred to the Army
Pay Department on the 1st of April, 1878. He was promoted to
the rank of Major on the 6th of February, 1862, and to that of
Lieutenant-Colonel on the 1st of October, 1882. He married, first,
Selina Martha, fourth daughter of Captain William Webster late
of the 1st West India and 76th Regiments, by his wife, Marie
Gabrielle, daughter of Charles Parseille, M.D., of Brittany,
and grand-daughter of the Countess De Mariset, with issue - (a)
Alexander William Webster Mackenzie, Lieutenant in the 100th
Regiment, who married Jessie Glen Rae, daughter of Captain Hector
Munro, 2nd Queen's and Royal Canadian Rifles, son of Captain
John Munro of the Sutherland Militia, without Issue. He died in
Canada on the 16th of October, 1867, and his wife was lost at sea
in September, 1870, on the passage from Canada to Britain; (b)
Rowland Poyntz Mackenzie, who married Rosalie MacEwen, daughter
of William Wainwright, of Trinidad, with issue - Alexander William,
who went to Columbus, Ohio, United States of America, on the 5th
of May, 1892, and is in the Commercial National Bank there. The
daughters were Selina Margaret, who married Henneage Goldie Pasea
of Strathearn Lodge, Trinidad; and Rosalie Miriam Gray. He died
in Trinidad on the 22nd of May, 1877; (c) Charles William Beverley
Mackenzie, late of the 71st Highland Light Infantry, Assistant
Commissary General. He married Selina Janet, daughter of Alexander
Gray, of Lanark, for many years a resident proprietor in Trinidad,
and a member of the Legislative Council of that island, without
issue. His wife died in Ireland on the 18th of October, 1880,
and he died at Gibraltar on the 12th of August, 1884; (d) George
Ker Mackenzie, of the Agra Bank, India, now residing in Bedford,
England. He married Jamesina Greig, daughter of Hugh Fraser,
a native of Kingussie, for many years a resident proprietor in
Back to Full Books
|