Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail
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Kenneth Mackenzie, the first Lord Mackenzie
of Kintail
(c.1569-1611), was a Highland
clan
chief who secured for himself and his heirs the entirety of the island of Lewis
in the Outer Hebrides
and successfully pursued a bloody feud with the Macdonells of Glengarry.
. The Mackenzies
were a clan from Ross-shire
that had risen to prominence in the 15th century during the disintegration of the Lordship of the Isles
.
and the Privy Council
that he would "faithfully, loyally, and truly concur, fortify, and assist his Majesty's Lieutenant of the North
with his advice and force at all times and occasions as he may be required by proclamations, missive letters, or otherwise."
Under date of 18 February, 1595-1596, there is an entry in the records of the Privy Council that Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail "being elected
and chosen to be one of the ordinary members" of the Council, and
being personally present, makes faith and gives oath in the usual
manner. Mackenzie’s connections to central government were to prove invaluable to him in the turbulent times that lay ahead. He proved himself to be a masterful political operator but even he had to deal with potentially serious setbacks and the Privy Council’s records show that he was on at least one occasion imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle
.
Mackenzie was one of the eight Lesser Barons who constituted the Lords of the Articles in the Scottish Parliament
which met for the first time on 17 June 1609. Although he was raised to the peerage
on 19 November 1609, by the title of Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, he was not so designated in the Privy Council Records until 31 May 1610, when the patent
of his creation was read and received by their Lordships, and he was thereupon acknowledged to be a free baron in all time coming. Mackenzie’s peerage accompanied his final triumph in his long campaign for the island of Lewis.
. Roderick “Old Ruari” Macleod of Lewis (c.1500-c.1595) divorced his wife, Janet (the daughter of John Mackenzie of Kintail and therefore Kenneth Mackenzie’s great-aunt), and disowned his son by her, Torquil Cononach Macleod. By another wife, Roderick had another son, Torquil Dubh Macleod. After Roderick’s death, Torquil Dubh retained Lewis, but Torquil Cononach (who had the support of central government) held the mainland Macleod estates at Coigach
and Loch Broom
. Torquil Cononach had no sons. His daughter and co-heir, Margaret, married Mackenzie’s brother, Roderick (progenitor of the Earls of Cromartie
), and the Mackenzies accordingly took up his cause against Torquil Dubh.
In 1596/7, Mackenzie complained to the king of attacks made by Torquil Dubh on Coigach and Loch Broom. When Torquil Dubh failed to appear before the Privy Council on 11 February 1596/7, he was denounced as a rebel and Mackenzie obtained a commission of fire and sword against him. Torquil Dubh’s rights to Lewis were forfeited and he himself was captured and beheaded in July 1597. Torquil Cononach surrendered his rights in Lewis to Mackenzie and identified Roderick Mackenzie as his heir in respect of Coigach and Loch Broom.
However, a new obstacle to Mackenzie’s campaign of self-aggrandisement now arose. In 1598, Lewis was granted to the Fife adventurers
, with the professed object of civilizing the inhabitants. Their colonising efforts over the next several years met with vigorous local resistance, which was intermittently and discreetly assisted by Mackenzie.
At a meeting of the Privy Council, held at Edinburgh
on 30 September 1605, Mackenzie received a commission to act for the King against Neil MacNeill
of Barra
, the Captain of Clanranald, and several other Highland and Island chiefs, who had "of late amassed together a force and company of the barbarous and rebellious thieves and limmers of the Isles," and with them entered Lewis, "assailed the camp of his Majesty's good subjects," and "committed barbarous and detestable murders and slaughters upon them." Mackenzie was in consequence commissioned to pursue these offenders with fire and sword, by sea or land. This was the beginning of Mackenzie’s conquest of Lewis.
Mackenzie received another commission in Lewis on 1 September 1607 against Neil Macleod, another of Old Ruari’s sons, who was conducting a guerilla campaign against the Fife adventurers and had recently captured the Castle of Stornoway
. This commission was to continue in force for six months.
Mackenzie at one point succeeded in fortifying his rights under Torquil Cononach’s resignation with a deed under the Great Seal
confirming his ownership of Lewis, but was compelled to surrender his rights to the King, who vested them in 1608 in Lord Balmerino
(later forfeited for treason), Sir George Hay
and Sir James Spens of Wormistoun. By covert support for local resistance, Mackenzie once again skillfully undermined their campaign to assert their rights, with the eventual result that they sold them to him for a substantial sum and a lease of his woods at Letterewe
. Having had his rights confirmed by the King, Mackenzie returned to Lewis in 1610 with 700 men and finally brought the island to submission.
in 1580. They burned the house of one of the murderers at Applecross
, killing him and his family, and also slew in his bed Donald Mackenzie, who lived at Kishorn. Kenneth Mackenzie and Glengarry both went to Edinburgh to present complaints against each other, but Mackenzie is said to have got the better of his opponent by producing before the Privy Council Donald Mackenzie’s shirt, covered in his blood. Glengarry fled the city and, although repeatedly summoned, failed to put in an appearance. The Records of the Privy Council under the date 9 September 1602 show that he was declared outlaw and rebel. A commission of fire and sword was granted to Mackenzie against him and all his followers, with a decree of ransom for the loss of those who were burnt and plundered by him, and for Kintail's charges and expenses, making altogether a very large sum.
Meanwhile, Angus Macdonell, Younger of Glengarry, had conducted a raid on Mackenzie’s homeland at Kintail, killing several and carrying away a large spoil of cattle. Armed with his commission and accompanied by a large force, Mackenzie defeated Macdonell at Morar
and drove back to Kintail “the largest booty ever heard of in the Highlands of Scotland”. However, Glengarry’s cousins continued to commit outrages, including raids on Kinlochewe
and Applecross, and the conflict became broader and more general when Glengarry formed an alliance with the Macdonalds of Moidart
and other Macdonalds against Mackenzie. Mackenzie, in his turn, sought assistance from his brother-in-law, Hector Og Maclean of Duart
. While Mackenzie was in Mull
securing Maclean’s support, Glengarry’s son (who was by now the real moving spirit behind the feud) launched a raid on Lochcarron. His galley was soon afterwards intercepted between Kylerhea
and Kyleakin
by a force of Mackenzie’s men and he himself was killed, his body being brought back to Mackenzie’s wife, who was holding the fort at Eilean Donan
.
Glengarry himself died the following year, in 1603. A cousin of his, Allan Dubh MacRanuil of Lundie committed one further great atrocity when he burned the church of Kilchrist in Easter Ross
, killing the congregation gathered inside. Glengarry’s piper is said to have marched around the flames, playing a pibroch
which has been known ever since by the name of "Cillechriost," as the family tune of the Macdonells of Glengarry. However, the Macdonells, despite their sanguinary excesses, were no match for the politically astute Mackenzie, who (in 1607) succeeded in obtaining a crown charter to the disputed districts of Loch Alsh
, Lochcarron and others, and who steadily bought up the claims of third parties against Glengarry. Their differences were eventually settled by an arrangement which secured absolutely to Mackenzie all Glengarry’s lands in Ross-shire
and the superiority of all his other possessions, but Glengarry was to hold the latter, paying Mackenzie a small feu
as superior.
and had:
He married, secondly, Isobel Ogilvie, daughter of Sir Gilbert Ogilvie of Powrie and had:
said of him that he "was truly of an heroic temper, but of a spirit too great for his estates, perhaps for his country, yet bounded by his station ..."
Earl of Seaforth
Earl of Seaforth was a title in the Peerage of Scotland and Peerage of Great Britain. It was held by the family of Mackenzie from 1623 to 1716, and again from 1771 to 1781....
of Kintail
Kintail
Kintail is an area of mountains in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It consists of the mountains to the north of Glen Shiel and the A87 road between the heads of Loch Duich and Loch Cluanie; its boundaries, other than Glen Shiel, are generally taken to be the valleys of Strath Croe and Gleann...
(c.1569-1611), was a Highland
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
clan
Scottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...
chief who secured for himself and his heirs the entirety of the island of Lewis
Lewis
Lewis is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is ....
in the Outer Hebrides
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...
and successfully pursued a bloody feud with the Macdonells of Glengarry.
Origins
Mackenzie was the son of Colin Cam Mackenzie of Kintail (died 1594) and Barbara, daughter of John Grant of GrantClan Grant
-Origins:The Grants are one of the clans of Siol Alpin, and descend from the 9th century Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots; and also of Norse origin, from settlers who are the descents of Haakon inn Riki Sigurdarsson , Jarl of Hladr, Protector of Norway ,-Origins:The Grants are one of the clans of...
. The Mackenzies
Clan MacKenzie
Clan Mackenzie is a Highland Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire.-Origins:The Mackenzies, a powerful clan of Celtic stock, were not among the clans that originated from Norman ancestry. Descendants of the long defunct royal Cenél Loairn of Dál Riata, they...
were a clan from Ross-shire
Ross-shire
Ross-shire is an area in the Highland Council Area in Scotland. The name is now used as a geographic or cultural term, equivalent to Ross. Until 1889 the term denoted a county of Scotland, also known as the County of Ross...
that had risen to prominence in the 15th century during the disintegration of the Lordship of the Isles
Lord of the Isles
The designation Lord of the Isles is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of...
.
Political advancement
On 9 November 1594, soon after his father’s death, Mackenzie made oath in presence of the KingJames I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
and the Privy Council
Privy Council of Scotland
The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King.In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland...
that he would "faithfully, loyally, and truly concur, fortify, and assist his Majesty's Lieutenant of the North
John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl
-Biography:He was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Atholl and Grizel Rattray. He supported the government of the queen dowager, and in 1560 was one of the three nobles who voted in Parliament against the Reformation and the confession of faith, and declared their adherence to Roman Catholicism...
with his advice and force at all times and occasions as he may be required by proclamations, missive letters, or otherwise."
Under date of 18 February, 1595-1596, there is an entry in the records of the Privy Council that Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail "being elected
and chosen to be one of the ordinary members" of the Council, and
being personally present, makes faith and gives oath in the usual
manner. Mackenzie’s connections to central government were to prove invaluable to him in the turbulent times that lay ahead. He proved himself to be a masterful political operator but even he had to deal with potentially serious setbacks and the Privy Council’s records show that he was on at least one occasion imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
.
Mackenzie was one of the eight Lesser Barons who constituted the Lords of the Articles in the Scottish Parliament
Parliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...
which met for the first time on 17 June 1609. Although he was raised to the peerage
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...
on 19 November 1609, by the title of Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, he was not so designated in the Privy Council Records until 31 May 1610, when the patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
of his creation was read and received by their Lordships, and he was thereupon acknowledged to be a free baron in all time coming. Mackenzie’s peerage accompanied his final triumph in his long campaign for the island of Lewis.
The conquest of Lewis
Mackenzie’s greatest opportunity arose from an internecine struggle within the Macleods of LewisClan MacLeod of Lewis
Clan Macleod of The Lewes, commonly known as Clan MacLeod of Lewis, is a Highland Scottish clan, which at its height held extensive lands in the Western Isles and west coast of Scotland. From the 14th century up until the beginning of the 17th century there were two branches of Macleods: the...
. Roderick “Old Ruari” Macleod of Lewis (c.1500-c.1595) divorced his wife, Janet (the daughter of John Mackenzie of Kintail and therefore Kenneth Mackenzie’s great-aunt), and disowned his son by her, Torquil Cononach Macleod. By another wife, Roderick had another son, Torquil Dubh Macleod. After Roderick’s death, Torquil Dubh retained Lewis, but Torquil Cononach (who had the support of central government) held the mainland Macleod estates at Coigach
Coigach
Coigach today refers to the peninsula "beyond the big rock" north of Ullapool, in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Anciently till changes in civil registration districts in 1857 the Barony also included Isle Martin, the lands down to Corrie beyond Ullapool, the various farms of...
and Loch Broom
Loch Broom
Loch Broom is a sea loch located in northwestern Ross and Cromarty, in the former parish of Lochbroom, in the west coast of Scotland. The small town of Ullapool lies on the eastern shore of the loch...
. Torquil Cononach had no sons. His daughter and co-heir, Margaret, married Mackenzie’s brother, Roderick (progenitor of the Earls of Cromartie
Earl of Cromartie
Earl of Cromartie is a title that has been created twice, both times for members of the Mackenzie family. This branch of the family descends from Sir Roderick Mackenzie, whose elder brother Kenneth Mackenzie was created Lord Mackenzie of Kintail in 1609 and was the father of Colin Mackenzie, 1st...
), and the Mackenzies accordingly took up his cause against Torquil Dubh.
In 1596/7, Mackenzie complained to the king of attacks made by Torquil Dubh on Coigach and Loch Broom. When Torquil Dubh failed to appear before the Privy Council on 11 February 1596/7, he was denounced as a rebel and Mackenzie obtained a commission of fire and sword against him. Torquil Dubh’s rights to Lewis were forfeited and he himself was captured and beheaded in July 1597. Torquil Cononach surrendered his rights in Lewis to Mackenzie and identified Roderick Mackenzie as his heir in respect of Coigach and Loch Broom.
However, a new obstacle to Mackenzie’s campaign of self-aggrandisement now arose. In 1598, Lewis was granted to the Fife adventurers
Fife adventurers
The Gentleman Adventurers of Fife or Fife Adventurers were a group of 12 Scottish Lowlander colonists awarded lands on the Isle of Lewis by King James VI in 1598 following the forfeiture of all MacLeod lands in 1597 when they failed to produce the title-deeds proving their ownership which had been...
, with the professed object of civilizing the inhabitants. Their colonising efforts over the next several years met with vigorous local resistance, which was intermittently and discreetly assisted by Mackenzie.
At a meeting of the Privy Council, held at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
on 30 September 1605, Mackenzie received a commission to act for the King against Neil MacNeill
Clan MacNeil
Clan MacNeil, also known in Scotland as Clan Niall, is a highland Scottish clan, particularly associated with the Outer Hebridean island of Barra. The early history of Clan MacNeil is obscure, however despite this the clan claims to descend from the legendary Niall of the nine hostages...
of Barra
Barra
The island of Barra is a predominantly Gaelic-speaking island, and apart from the adjacent island of Vatersay, to which it is connected by a causeway, is the southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.-Geography:The 2001 census showed that the resident population was 1,078...
, the Captain of Clanranald, and several other Highland and Island chiefs, who had "of late amassed together a force and company of the barbarous and rebellious thieves and limmers of the Isles," and with them entered Lewis, "assailed the camp of his Majesty's good subjects," and "committed barbarous and detestable murders and slaughters upon them." Mackenzie was in consequence commissioned to pursue these offenders with fire and sword, by sea or land. This was the beginning of Mackenzie’s conquest of Lewis.
Mackenzie received another commission in Lewis on 1 September 1607 against Neil Macleod, another of Old Ruari’s sons, who was conducting a guerilla campaign against the Fife adventurers and had recently captured the Castle of Stornoway
Stornoway
Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...
. This commission was to continue in force for six months.
Mackenzie at one point succeeded in fortifying his rights under Torquil Cononach’s resignation with a deed under the Great Seal
Great Seal of Scotland
The Great Seal of Scotland allows the monarch to authorise official documents without having to sign each document individually. Wax is melted in a metal mould or matrix and impressed into a wax figure that is attached by cord or ribbon to documents that the monarch wishes to make official...
confirming his ownership of Lewis, but was compelled to surrender his rights to the King, who vested them in 1608 in Lord Balmerino
Lord Balmerino
The title of Lord Balmerino was a title in the Peerage of Scotland; it was created in 1606 and forfeited in 1746 on the attainder and execution of the 6th Lord Balmerino in the Tower of London....
(later forfeited for treason), Sir George Hay
George Hay, 1st Earl of Kinnoull
George Hay, 1st Earl of Kinnoull was a Scottish nobleman.He served as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber from 1596, and was knighted around 1609. He was appointed Lord Clerk Register and a lord of session in 1616. He supported the five articles of Perth. He was Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1622 to...
and Sir James Spens of Wormistoun. By covert support for local resistance, Mackenzie once again skillfully undermined their campaign to assert their rights, with the eventual result that they sold them to him for a substantial sum and a lease of his woods at Letterewe
Letterewe
Letterewe is a large estate of several tens of thousands of acres on the north-eastern shore of Loch Maree, South-East of Poolewe, in Wester Ross, Scotland. It is one of the wildest, most remote and least populated areas in the United Kingdom....
. Having had his rights confirmed by the King, Mackenzie returned to Lewis in 1610 with 700 men and finally brought the island to submission.
Feud with the Macdonells of Glengarry
Mackenzie’s feud with the Macdonells of Glengarry may be said to have its origin in the revenge taken by two cousins of Glengarry for the murder of their fathers in LochcarronLochcarron
Lochcarron is a village, community and civil parish in the Wester Ross area of Highland, Scotland. It has a population of 923.-Local Information:...
in 1580. They burned the house of one of the murderers at Applecross
Applecross
The Applecross peninsula is a peninsula in Wester Ross, Highland, on the west coast of Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1300 years old and is not used locally to refer to the 19th century village with the pub and post office, lying on the small Applecross Bay, facing the Inner Sound, on...
, killing him and his family, and also slew in his bed Donald Mackenzie, who lived at Kishorn. Kenneth Mackenzie and Glengarry both went to Edinburgh to present complaints against each other, but Mackenzie is said to have got the better of his opponent by producing before the Privy Council Donald Mackenzie’s shirt, covered in his blood. Glengarry fled the city and, although repeatedly summoned, failed to put in an appearance. The Records of the Privy Council under the date 9 September 1602 show that he was declared outlaw and rebel. A commission of fire and sword was granted to Mackenzie against him and all his followers, with a decree of ransom for the loss of those who were burnt and plundered by him, and for Kintail's charges and expenses, making altogether a very large sum.
Meanwhile, Angus Macdonell, Younger of Glengarry, had conducted a raid on Mackenzie’s homeland at Kintail, killing several and carrying away a large spoil of cattle. Armed with his commission and accompanied by a large force, Mackenzie defeated Macdonell at Morar
Morar
Morar is a small village on the west coast of Scotland, south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the wider district around the village....
and drove back to Kintail “the largest booty ever heard of in the Highlands of Scotland”. However, Glengarry’s cousins continued to commit outrages, including raids on Kinlochewe
Kinlochewe
Kinlochewe is a village in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It is in the parish of Gairloch, the community of Torridon and Kinlochewe and the Highland Council area. It lies near the head of Loch Maree in its magnificent valley, and serves as a junction between the main Ullapool...
and Applecross, and the conflict became broader and more general when Glengarry formed an alliance with the Macdonalds of Moidart
Moidart
Moidart is a district in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.Moidart lies to the west of Fort William and is very remote. Loch Shiel cuts off the south-east boundary of the district. Moidart includes the townships of Dorlin, Mingarry, Kinlochmoidart and Glenuig. At Dorlin is located the ancient fortress...
and other Macdonalds against Mackenzie. Mackenzie, in his turn, sought assistance from his brother-in-law, Hector Og Maclean of Duart
Maclean of Duart
The Macleans of Duart or Maclean of Dowart are the main sept of the Scottish clan Clan Maclean, whose chief has his seat at Duart Castle, Isle of Mull.-History:Lachlan Lubanach Maclean was the first Maclean to occupy Duart Castle....
. While Mackenzie was in Mull
Isle of Mull
The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....
securing Maclean’s support, Glengarry’s son (who was by now the real moving spirit behind the feud) launched a raid on Lochcarron. His galley was soon afterwards intercepted between Kylerhea
Kylerhea
Kylerhea is a village on the east coast of the Isle of Skye, in the Scottish Highlands, overlooking Kyle Rhea, a strait splitting Skye from the Scottish mainland. A ferry service has linked Kylerhea with Glenelg on the mainland for centuries. The first car ferry was introduced in 1935, with a...
and Kyleakin
Kyleakin
The village of Kyleakin is situated on the east coast of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, along the strait of Kyle Akin opposite the northwest Scottish mainland town of Kyle of Lochalsh...
by a force of Mackenzie’s men and he himself was killed, his body being brought back to Mackenzie’s wife, who was holding the fort at Eilean Donan
Eilean Donan
Eilean Donan is a small island in Loch Duich in the western Highlands of Scotland. It is connected to the mainland by a footbridge and lies about half a mile from the village of Dornie. Eilean Donan is named after Donnán of Eigg, a Celtic saint martyred in 617...
.
Glengarry himself died the following year, in 1603. A cousin of his, Allan Dubh MacRanuil of Lundie committed one further great atrocity when he burned the church of Kilchrist in Easter Ross
Easter Ross
Easter Ross is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland.The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituency and a Scottish Parliament constituency...
, killing the congregation gathered inside. Glengarry’s piper is said to have marched around the flames, playing a pibroch
Piobaireachd
Pibroch, Piobaireachd or Ceòl Mór is an art music genre associated primarily with the Scottish Highlands that is characterised by extended compositions with a melodic theme and elaborate formal variations...
which has been known ever since by the name of "Cillechriost," as the family tune of the Macdonells of Glengarry. However, the Macdonells, despite their sanguinary excesses, were no match for the politically astute Mackenzie, who (in 1607) succeeded in obtaining a crown charter to the disputed districts of Loch Alsh
Loch Alsh
Loch Alsh or Lochalsh is a sea inlet between the isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides and the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is also used to described the surrounding country and the feudal holdings around the loch...
, Lochcarron and others, and who steadily bought up the claims of third parties against Glengarry. Their differences were eventually settled by an arrangement which secured absolutely to Mackenzie all Glengarry’s lands in Ross-shire
Ross-shire
Ross-shire is an area in the Highland Council Area in Scotland. The name is now used as a geographic or cultural term, equivalent to Ross. Until 1889 the term denoted a county of Scotland, also known as the County of Ross...
and the superiority of all his other possessions, but Glengarry was to hold the latter, paying Mackenzie a small feu
Feu
Feu was previously the most common form of land tenure in Scotland, as conveyancing in Scots law was dominated by feudalism until the Scottish Parliament passed the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. Act 2000...
as superior.
Marriage and children
Mackenzie married, first, Ann Ross, daughter of George Ross of BalnagownClan Ross
Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross.-Origins:Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan first named as such by King Malcolm IV of Scotland in 1160...
and had:
- Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of SeaforthColin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of SeaforthColin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth , was a Highland clan chief and Scottish nobleman, possessed of vast estates and wealth.-Origins:...
, later became the first Earl of SeaforthEarl of SeaforthEarl of Seaforth was a title in the Peerage of Scotland and Peerage of Great Britain. It was held by the family of Mackenzie from 1623 to 1716, and again from 1771 to 1781.... - Janet Mackenzie, who married Sir Donald Gorme Macdonald, 8th Laird of Sleat, 1st Baronet, son of Archibald Macdonald and Margaret Macdonald
- Sybella Mackenzie, who married Ian Mor Macleod of Macleod, 16th Chief
- Barbara Mackenzie, who married Donald Mackay, 1st Lord ReayDonald Mackay, 1st Lord ReayDonald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay , known as Sir Donald Mackay, 1st Baronet, from 1627 to 1628, was a Scottish peer and soldier.-Biography:Mackay was the eldest son of Huistean Du...
He married, secondly, Isobel Ogilvie, daughter of Sir Gilbert Ogilvie of Powrie and had:
- George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of SeaforthGeorge Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of SeaforthGeorge Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth was a Highland clan chief and Scottish nobleman, who played an equivocating role in Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.-Origins:...
, who subsequently became the second Earl of SeaforthEarl of SeaforthEarl of Seaforth was a title in the Peerage of Scotland and Peerage of Great Britain. It was held by the family of Mackenzie from 1623 to 1716, and again from 1771 to 1781.... - Thomas Mackenzie
- Simon Mackenzie of Lochallin or Lochalyne or Lochslin d 01.1666, who married 05/06.1634 Elizabeth Bruce dau of Peter Bruce, Principal of St. Leonard's, son of Bruce of Fingask
Death
Mackenzie died on 27 February 1611. The Earl of CromartieGeorge Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie
George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie FRS , known as Sir George Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet from 1654 to 1685 and as The Viscount of Tarbat from 1685 to 1703, was a Scottish statesman....
said of him that he "was truly of an heroic temper, but of a spirit too great for his estates, perhaps for his country, yet bounded by his station ..."