As a reward for his eminent services to the Government he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Ross, and, on the 26th of October, 1797, raised to the dignity of a peer of the United Kingdom, by the titles of Lord Seaforth and Baron Mackenzie of Kintail, the ancient dignities of his house, with limitation to the heirs male of his body. His Lordship, having resigned the command of the 78th, was, in 1798, appointed Colonel of the Ross-shire Regiment of Militia. In 1800 he was appointed Governor of Barbadoes, an office which he retained for six years, after which he held high office in Demerara and Berbice. While Governor of Barbadoes he was for a time extremely popular, and was distinguished for his firmness and even-handed justice. He succeeded in putting an end to slavery, and to the practice of slave-killing in the island, which at that time was of very common occurrence, and deemed by the planters a venal offence punishable only by a small fine of œ15. In consequence of his humane proceedings in this matter he became obnoxious to many of the colonists, and, in 1806, he finally left the island. In 1808 he was made a Lieutenant-General.
These were singular incidents in the life of a man who may be said to have been deaf and dumb from his youth but who, in spite of these physical defects - sufficient to crush any ordinary man - had been able, by the force of his natural abilities and the favour of fortune, to overcome them sufficiently to raise himself to such a high and important position in the world. He took a lively interest in all questions of art and science, especially in natural history, and displayed at once his liberality and his love of art by his munificence to Sir Thomas Lawrence, in the youth and struggles of that great artist and famous painter, and by his patronage of others. On this point a recent writer says - "The last baron of Kintail, Francis. Lord Seaforth, was, as Sir Walter Scott has said, 'a nobleman of extraordinary talents, who must have made for himself a lasting reputation had not his political exertions been checked by painful natural infirmities.' Though deaf from his sixteenth year and though labouring under a partial impediment of speech, he held high and important appointments, and was distinguished for his intellectual activities and attainments … His case seems to contradict the opinion held by Kitto and others, that in all that relates to the culture of the mind, and the cheerful exercise of the mental faculties, the blind have the advantage of the deaf. The loss of the ear, that 'vestibule of the soul,' was to him compensated by gifts and endowments rarely united in the same individual. One instance of the chief's liberality and love of art may be mentioned. In 1796 he advanced a sum of L1000 to Sir Thomas Lawrence to relieve him from pecuniary difficulties. Lawrence was then a young man of twenty-seven. His career from a boy upwards was one of brilliant success, but he was careless and generous as to money matters, and some speculations by his father embarassed and distressed the young artist. In his trouble he applied to the Chief of Kintail. 'Will you,' he said in that theatrical style common to Lawrence, 'will you be the Antonio to a Bassanio?' He promised to pay the L1000 in four years, but the money was given on terms the most agreeable to the feelings and complimentary to the talents of the artist. He was to repay it with his pencil, and the chief sat to him for his portrait. Lord Seaforth also commissioned from West one of those immense sheets of canvas on which the old Academician delighted to work in his latter years. The subject of the picture was the traditionary story of the Royal hunt, in which Alexander the Third was saved from the assault of a fierce stag by Colin Fitzgerald, a wandering knight unknown to authentic history. West considered it one of his best productions, charged L800 for it, and was willing some years afterwards, with a view to the exhibition of his works, to purchase back the picture at its original cost. In one instance Lord Seaforth did not evince artistic taste. He dismantled Brahan Castle removing its castellated features and completely modernising its general appearance. The house, with its large modern additions, is a tall, massive pile of building, the older portion covered to the roof with ivy. It occupies a commanding site on a bank midway between the river Conon and a range of picturesque rocks. This bank extends for miles, sloping in successive terraces, all richly wooded or cultivated, and commanding a magnificent view that terminates with the Moray Firth." ["The Seaforth Papers," in the "North British Review," 1863, by Robert Carruthers, LL.D.]
The remarkable prediction of the extinction of this highly distinguished and ancient family is so well known that it need not be recapitulated here, and its literal fulfilment is one of the most curious instances of the kind on record. There is no doubt that the "prophecy" was widely known throughout the Highlands generations before it was fulfilled. Lockhart, in his "Life of Sir Walter Scott," says that "it connected the fall of the house of Seaforth not only with the appearance of a deaf 'Cabarfeidh,' but with the contemporaneous appearance of various different physical misfortunes in several of the other Highland chiefs, all of which are said to have actually occurred within the memory of the generation that has not yet passed away. Mr Morrit can testify thus far, that he heard the prophecy quoted in the Highlands at a time when Lord Seaforth had two sons alive, and in good health, and that it certainly was not made after the event," and then he proceeds to say that Scott and Sir Humphrey Davy were most certainly convinced of its truth, as also many others who had watched the latter days of Seaforth in the light of those wonderful predictions. [Every Highland family has its store of traditionary and romantic beliefs. Centuries ago a seer of the Clan Mackenzie, known as Kenneth Oag (Odhar), predicted that when there should be a deaf Caberfae the gift land of the estate would be sold, and the male line become extinct. The prophecy was well known in the North, and it was not, like many similar vaticinations, made after the event. At least three unimpeachable Sassenach writers, Sir Humphrey Davy, Sir Walter Scott, and Mr Morritt of Rokeby, had all heard the prediction when Lord Seaforth had two sons alive, both in good health. The tenantry were, of course, strongly impressed with the truth of the prophecy, and when their Chief proposed to sell part of Kintail, they offered to buy in the land for him, that it might not pass from the family. One son was then living, and there was no immediate prospect of the succession expiring; but, in deference to their clannish prejudice or affection, the sale of any portion of the estate was deferred for about two years. The blow came at last. Lord Seaforth was involved in West India plantations, which were mismanaged, and he was forced to dispose of part of the "gift land." About the same time the last of his four sons, a young man of talent and eloquence, and then representing his native county in Parliament, died suddenly, and thus the prophecy of Kenneth Oag was fulfilled. -
"Of the name of Fitzgerald remained not a male
To bear the proud name of the Chief of Kintail."
—Robert Carruthers, LL.D., in the "North British Review."]
His Lordship outlived all his four sons, as predicted by the Brahan Seer. His name became extinct, and his vast possessions were inherited by a stranger, James Alexander Stewart, who married his eldest daughter, Lady Hood. The sign by which it would be known that the prediction was about to be fulfilled was also foretold in the same remarkable manner, namely, that in the day's of the last Seaforth there should be four great contemporary lairds, distinguished by certain physical defects described by the Seer. Sir Hector Mackenzie, Bart. of Gairloch, was buck-toothed, and is to this day spoken of among the Gairloch tenantry as "An Tighearna storach," or the buck-toothed laird. Chisholm of Chisholm was hair-lipped, Grant of Grant half-witted, and Macleod of Raasay a stammerer. [For full details of this remarkable instance of family fate, see "The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer." - A. & W. Mackenzie, Inverness.]
To the testimony of those whose names have been already given we shall add the evidence of a living witness when the first edition of this work was in preparation. Duncan Davidson of Tulloch, Lord-Lieutenant of the county of Ross, in a letter addressed to the author, dated May 21, 1878, says - "Many of these prophecies I heard of upwards of 70 years ago, and when many of them were not fulfilled, such as the late Lord Seaforth surviving his sons, and Mrs Stewart Mackenzie's accident, near Brahan, by which Miss Caroline Mackenzie was killed."
It is impossible not to sympathise with the magnificent old Chief as he mourned over the premature death of his four promising sons, and saw the honours of his house for ever extinguished in his own person.
Many instances are related of his magnificent extravagance at home, while sailing round the West Coast, visiting the great principality of the Lewis, and calling on his way hither and thither on the other great chiefs of the West and Western Islands. Sir Walter Scott, in his "Lament for the Last of the Seaforths," adds his tribute -
In vain the bright course of thy talents to wrong.
Fate deadened thine ear and imprisoned thy tongue,
For brighter o'er all her obstructions arose
The glow of thy genius they could not oppose;
And who, in the land of the Saxon or Gael
Could match with Mackenzie, High Chief of Kintail?
Thy sons rose around thee in light and in love,
All a father could hope, all a friend cou'd approve;
What `vails it the tale of thy sorrows to tell?
In the spring time of youth and of promise they fell!
Of the line of MacKenneth remains not a male,
To bear the proud name of the Chief of Kintail.
This sketch of the great chief cannot better be closed than in the words of one already repeatedly quoted: "It was said of him by an acute observer and a leading wit of the age, the late Honourable Henry Erskine, the Scotch Dean of Faculty, that 'Lord Seaforth's deafness was a merciful interposition to lower him to the ordinary rate of capacity in society,' insinuating that otherwise his perception and intelligence would have been oppressive. And the aptness of the remark was duly appreciated by all those who had the good fortune to be able to form an estimate from personal observation, while, as a man of the world, none was more capable of generalizing. Yet, as a countryman, he never affected to disregard those local predilections which identified him with the County of Ross, as the genuine representative of Kintail, possessing an influence which, being freely ceded and supported, became paramount and permanent in the county which he represented in the Commons House of Parliament, till he was called to the peerage on the 26th October, 1797, by the title of Lord Seaforth and Baron of Kintail, with limitation to heirs male of his body, and which he presided over as his Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant. He was commissioned, in 1793, to reorganise the 78th or Ross-shire Regiment of Highlanders, which, for so many years, continued to be almost exclusively composed of his countrymen. Nor did his extraordinary qualifications and varied exertions escape the wide ranging eye of the master genius of the age, who has also contributed, by a tributary effusion, to transmit the unqualified veneration of our age to many that are to follow. He has been duly recognised by Sir Walter Scott, nor was he passed over in the earlier buddings of Mr Colin Mackenzie; but while the annalist is indebted to their just encomiums, he may be allowed to respond to praise worthy of enthusiasm by a splendid fact which at once exhibits a specimen of reckless imprudence joined to those qualities which, by their popularity, attest their genuineness. Lord Seaforth for a time became emulous of the society of the most accomplished Prince of his age. The recreation of the Court was play; the springs of this indulgence then were not of the most delicate texture; his faculties, penetrating as they were, had not the facility of detection which qualified him for cautious circumspection; he heedlessly ventured and lost. It was then to cover his delinquencies elsewhere, he exposed to sale the estate of Lochalsh; and it was then he was bitterly taught to feel, when his people, without an exception, addressed his Lordship this pithy remonstrance - 'Reside amongst us and we shall pay your debts.' A variety of feelings and facts, unconnected with a difference, might have interposed to counteract this display of devotedness besides ingratitude, but these habits, or his Lordship's reluctance, rendered this expedient so hopeless that certain of the descendants of the original proprietors of that valuable locality were combining their respective finances to buy it in, when a sudden announcement that it was sold under value, smothered their amiable endeavours. Kintail followed, with the fairest portion of Glenshiel, and the Barony of Callan Fitzgerald ceased to exist, to the mortification, though not to the unpopularity of this still patriarchal nobleman among his faithful tenantry and the old friends of his family." [Bennetsfield MS.]
He married on the 22d of April, 1782, Mary, daughter of the Rev.
Baptist Proby, D.D., Dean of Lichfield, and brother of John, first
Lord Carysfort, by whom he had issue -
I. William Frederick, who died young, at Killearnan.
II. George Leveson Boucherat, who died young at Urquhart.
III. William Frederick, who represented the County of Ross in Parliament, in 1812, and died unmarried at Warriston, near Edinburgh, in 1814.
IV. Francis John, a midshipman in the Royal Navy, who died unmarried at Brahan, in 1813.
V. Mary Frederica Elizabeth, who succeeded her father and of whom presently.
VI. Frances Catherine, who died without issue.
VII. Caroline, who was accidentally killed at Brahan, unmarried.
VIII. Charlotte Elizabeth, who died unmarried.
IX. Augusta Anne, who died unmarried.
X. Helen Ann, who married the Right Hon. Joshua Henry Mackenzie
of the Inverlael family, anciently descended from the Barons of
Kintail, a Lord of Session and Justiciary by the title of Lord
Mackenzie, with issue - two daughters, Frances Mary and Penuel
Augusta.
Lord Seaforth, having survived all his male issue, died on the 11th of January, 1815, at Warriston, near Edinburgh, the last male representative of his race. His lady outlived him, and died at Edinburgh on the 27th of February, 1829. The estates, in virtue of an entail executed by Lord Seaforth, with all their honours, duties, and embarrassments, devolved upon his eldest daughter, then a young widowed lady,
XXII. MARY ELIZABETH FREDERICA MACKENZIE, LADY HOOD,
Whom Scott commemorated in the well-known lines -
And thou, gentle dame, who must bear to thy grief,
For thy clan and thy country the cares of a Chief,
Whom brief rolling moons in six changes have left
Of thy husband, and father, and brethren bereft;
To thine ear of affection how sad is the hail
That salutes thee the heir of the line of Kintail.
She was born at Tarradale, Ross-shire, on the 27th of March, 1783, and married, first, at Barbadoes on the 6th of November, 1804, Sir Samuel Hood, K.B., Vice-Admiral of the White, and afterwards, in 1806, M.P. for Westminster. Sir Samuel died at Madras, on the 24th of December, 1814, without issue. Lady Hood then returned home, and, in 1815, entered into possession of the family estates, which had devolved upon her by the death of her father without male issue, when the titles became extinct.
She married secondly, on the 21st of May, 1817, the Right Hon. James Alexander Stewart of Glasserton, nephew of the seventh Earl of Galloway, who assumed the name of Mackenzie, was returned M.P. for the County of Ross, held office under Earl Grey, and was successively Governor of Ceylon, and Lord High Commissioner to the Ionian Islands. He died on the 24th of September, 1843. Mrs Sewart-Mackenzie died at Brahan Castle on the 28th of November, 1862, and was buried in the family vault in the Cathedral of Fortrose. Her funeral was one of the largest ever witnessed in the Highlands, many thousands being present on foot, while the vehicles that followed numbered more than 150. By her second marriage she had issue -
I. Keith William Stewart, her heir and successor.
II. Francis Pelham Proby, Lieutenant 71st Highlanders. He died unmarried in 1844.
III. George Augustus Frederick Wellington, who, born in 1824, married in November, 1850, Maria Louisa, daughter of General Thomas Marriot, H.E.IC.S., and died, without issue, in 1852.
IV. Mary Frances, who married, in 1838, the Hon. Philip Anstruther,
Colonial Secretary of Ceylon, with issue.
V. Caroline Susan, who, in 1844, married John Berney Petre, and died in 1867.
VI. Louisa Caroline, who, on the 17th of November, 1858, married, as his second wife, William Bingham second Lord Ashburton, who died on the 23rd of March, 1864, with issue, an only daughter, Mary Florence, who, in 1884, married the Hon. William George Spencer Scott, Earl Compton, M.P., eldest surviving son and heir of William Douglas Compton, fourth Marquis of Northampton, born in 1851, with issue - William Bingham Lord Wilmington, born in 1885; and Lady Margaret Louisa Lizzie.
Mrs Stewart Mackenzie and her husband, on her death on the 28th of
November, 1862, were succeeded in the estates by their eldest son,
XXIII. KEITH WIILLIAM STEWART MACKENZIE,
Born on the 9th of May, 1818. He was an officer in the 90th Regiment and subsequently Colonel-Commandant of the Ross-shire Highland Rifle Volunteers. He sold what remained of Kintail in 1869. He married first, on the 17th of May, 1844, Hannah Charlotte, daughter of James Joseph Hope Vere of Craigie Hall and Blackwood, Midlothian, with issue -
I. James Alexander Francis Humberston, his heir.
II. Susan Mary Elizabeth, who on the 15th of August, 1871, married, first, the Hon. John Constantine Stanley, Colonel Grenadier Guards, second son of the Right Hon. Edward Lord Stanley of Alderley. He was born on the 30th of September, 1837, and died on the 27th of April, 1878, leaving issue - two daughters. She married, secondly, the Right Hon. Sir Francis Henry Jeune, Q.C., President of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, with issue - one son.
III. Julia Charlotte Sophia, who on the 8th of October, 1873, married, as his second wife, the Right Hon. Arthur, ninth Marquis of Tweeddale, who died in 1878, without issue. In 1887 she married, secondly, as his second wife, the Right Hon. Sir John Rose, Baronet, G.C.M.G., of Queensgate, London, who died in 1888, without issue. In 1892 she married, thirdly, Captain William Evans Gordon, without issue.
IV. Georgina Henrietta, who died young, on the 15th of October, 1868.
His first wife died in June, 1868. He married, secondly, on the 2nd of June, 1871, Alicia Almeira Bell, with issue - one daughter.
Keith Stewart Mackenzie died in June, 1881, when he was succeeded by his only son,
XXIV. JAMES ALEXANDER FRANCIS HUMBERSTON STEWART MACKENZIE,
Who was born on the 9th of October, 1847, Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding the 9th Lancers, and now of Seaforth. He is still unmarried.
THE CHIEFSHIP.
It has been shown at p. 343 that the male line of Colonel Alexander Mackenzie of Assynt, fourth son of Kenneth Mor, third Earl of Seaforth, became extinct on the death, in 1815, of Francis Humberston Mackenzie, who survived all his male issue. It has also been proved that the male line of George, second Earl of Seaforth, who died in 1651, terminated in Kenneth, XIX. of Kintail and sixth Earl of Seaforth, whose only child, Lady Caroline Mackenzie, formed an irregular union with Lewis Drummond, Count Melfort, a French nobleman. It was shown earlier, at p. 246, that the lineal representation of the original line of Kintail was diverted from heirs male in the person of Anna, Countess of Balcarres, eldest daughter of Colin, first Earl of Seaforth, who had no surviving male issue; and the male line of Colonel Mackenzie of Assynt having terminated in "The Last of the Seaforths," who died in 1815, we must go back beyond all these to an earlier collateral branch to pick up the legitimate male succession, and for ever dispose of the various unfounded claims hitherto made to the Chiefship of the clan.
Before the appearance of the former edition of this work there had been several claimants to this highly honourable position; and this is not to be wondered at, for whoever proves his right to the Chiefship of the Mackenzies establishes at the same time his right to the ancient honours of the house and Barons of Kintail. In an earlier part of the work, at p. 316, it is shown that the original title of Lord Mackenzie of Kintail did not come under the attainder of William, the fifth Earl, for the part which he took in the Rising of 1715, and therefore the Chief of the Mackenzies, as heir male of the first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, is, in virtue of that position, we believe, entitled to assume that ancient title.
The first formal claim to the Chiefship is one by a Captain Murdoch Mackenzie, "of London," who claimed "the titles, honours, and dignities of Earl of Seaforth and Baron Mackenzie of Kintail," in virtue of a pretended descent and pedigree from the Hon. John Mackenzie of Assynt, second son of Kenneth Mor, third Earl of Seaforth. This pedigree and claim is before us. According to that document the Hon. John Mackenzie of Assynt had a son "Murdoch Mackenzie of Lochbroom, who, having shown a disposition of enterprise like his kinsman Earl William, left his native parish in 1729 or 1730, first for Aberdeen and afterwards for Northumberland, where, in consequence of the unsettled state of Scotland, he resided with his family." This Murdoch had a son, John Mackenzie, "born in Beadnall, parish of Bamborough, county of Northumberland, in 1738, who married Miss Isabella Davidson in 1762, and died in 1780, in his forty-second year." John had a son, "Captain Murdoch Mackenzie, the claimant, who was born at Beadnall, county of Northumberland, in 1763, and married in 1781, Miss Eleanor Brown of the same place, and has issue. He commanded the ship Essex, transport 81, of London, during the late war. Being desirous to see his clan in the North, in 1790 he visited the late Francis Lord Seaforth, who in the true spirit of Scotch sincerity, hospitality, and nobility received him with demonstrations of pleasure. After talking over family matters his Lordship candidly said that Captain Murdoch ought to have been the peer in point of primogeniture." A short account of the family accompanies the pedigree and claim, which concludes in these terms - "In consequence of the death of the last peer it has been discovered in Scotland that the titles and family estates have devolved upon Captain Murdoch Mackenzie of London. This gentleman is naturally anxious to establish his rights, but being unable to prosecute so important a claim without the aid of sufficient funds he has been advised to solicit the aid of some individuals whose public spirit and liberal feelings may prompt them to assist him on the principle that such timely assistance and support will be gratefully and liberally rewarded. Captain Mackenzie hereby offers to give his bond for L300 (or more if required) for every L100 that may be lent him to prosecute his claim - the same to become due and payable within three months after he shall have recovered his titles and estates." The result of this appeal has not been ascertained, but it is certain that Captain Murdoch Mackenzie did not succeed in establishing any claim either to the titles or estates of the House of Kintail and Seaforth.
It was, on the contrary, placed absolutely beyond dispute by the evidence produced at the Allangrange Service in 1829 that the eldest and only surviving son of the Hon. John Mackenzie of Assynt was not Murdoch but Kenneth, and there is no trace whatever of his having had any son but Kenneth. In an original Precept issued by the Provost and Magistrates of Fortrose on the 30th of October, 1716, the son of the then late John Mackenzie of Assynt is designated "Kenneth Mackenzie, now of Assynt, grandchild and apparent heir to the deceased Isobel, Countess Dowager of Seaforth, his grandmother on the father's side." In the same document Kenneth is described as her Ladyship's "nearest and lawful heir," conclusively showing that he was her son John's eldest son. It is thus fully established that Captain Murdoch Mackenzie's genealogical chain fails at the very outset - is broken in its initial link. The Hon. John Mackenzie of Assynt had only one son. His name was Kenneth, not Murdoch, and he died without issue. If any additional proof be required to show that the male line of the Hon. John Mackenzie of Assynt has long been extinct, it will be found in the fact that on the death of Earl Kenneth, known as "the Little Lord," in 1781, the succession to the representation and ancient honours of the family of Kintail and Seaforth, devolved upon the heir male of Colonel Alexander Mackenzie of Assynt, who was the fourth son of Kenneth Mor, third earl, and a younger brother of the Hon. John Mackenzie of Assynt, apart altogether from the conclusive parole evidence given by very old people at the Allangrange Service in 1829. This effectually disposes of Captain Murdo Mackenzie.
Now as to the more plausible but equally baseless claim of Captain William Mackenzie of Gruinard, and his cousin, the late Major-General Alexander Mackay Mackenzie of the Indian Army. Captain Murdoch Mackenzie's claim having failed, we must go back another step in the chain to pick up the legitimate succession to the honours of Kintail and Seaforth. Here we are met on the way by another claim, put forward by the late Captain William Mackenzie of Gruinard, in the following letter addressed to George F. Mackenzie, then of Allangrange:
11 Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, London, 24th October 1829.
My Dear Allangrange, - Having observed in the "Courier" of the 21st inst., at a meeting at Tain, that you were proceeding with the Seaforth Claims, I take the earliest opportunity of communicating to you a circumstance which I am sure my agent, Mr Roy, would have informed you of sooner, did he know that you were proceeding in this affair; and which, I think probable, he has done ere this; but lest it might have escaped his notice, I deem it proper to acquaint you that on Mr Roy having discovered, by authenticated documents, that I was the lineal descendant of George, Earl of Seaforth, he authorised an English counsellor to make application to the Secretary of State to that effect, who made a reference to the Court of Exchequer in Scotland to examine the evidence - Mr Roy having satisfied them with having all which he required to establish my claim. I therefore am inclined to address you in order that you may be saved the trouble and expense attending this affair. Indeed, had I known you were taking any steps in this business, be assured I would have written to you sooner.
I had not the pleasure of communicating with you since your marriage, upon which event I beg leave to congratulate you, and hope I shall soon have the pleasure of learning of your adding a member to the Clan Kenneth. Believe me, my dear Mac, yours most sincerely,
WM. MACKENZIE.
This claim is founded on a Genealogical Tree in possession of the present representatives of the Gruinard family, by which John Mackenzie, their progenitor is incorrectly described as the son of George Mackenzie of Kildun, second son of George, second Earl of Seaforth. It is believed that the descendants of this George, who was the second George designated of Kildun, are long ago extinct; but whether they are or not, it will be conclusively shown, by reference to dates, that John, I. of Gruinard, could not possibly have been a son of his. And to the indisputable evidence of dates may be added the testimony of all the Mackenzie MSS. in existence which make any reference to John of Gruinard. In every instance where his name appears in these he is described as a natural son of George, second Earl of Seaforth.
Before this Earl succeeded he also was known as George Mackenzie of Kildun, hence the error in the Gruinard Genealogical Tree. The author of the Ancient MS., so often quoted in the course of this work, was a contemporary of John, I. of Gruinard, and he states that Earl George "had also "ane naturall" son, called John Mackenzy, who married Loggie's daughter." The author of the Ardintoul MS., who was the grandson, as mentioned by himself, of the Rev. Farquhar Macrae, Constable of Ellandonnan Castle in Earl Colin's time, and who died advanced in years as far back as 1704 - consequently a contemporary of John of Gruinard - describing the effects of the disastrous battle of Worcester, says that Earl George, who was then in Holland, was informed of the result of the battle "by John of Gruinard, "his natural son," and Captain Hector Mackenzie, who made their escape from the battle," that the tidings "unraised his melancholy, and so died in the latter end of September, 1651." The Letterfearn MS. is also contemporary, for the author of it speaks of Earl Kenneth as ""now" Earl of Seaforth," and of George of Kildun in the present tense, while he speaks of his father in the past tense, and he say's that "He (Earl George) left "ane natural son," who "is" called John, who "is" married with Logie's daughter." That John of Gruinard was married to Christina, daughter of Donald Mackenzie, III. of Loggie, is proved by a sasine dated 1655, in which that lady is described as his wife.
It may be objected to these MSS. that, however probable it may be that they are correct, they are not necessarily authentic. But there is ample evidence of an official and incontestible character on the point. A sasine, dated 6th of February, 1658, is recorded in the Particular Register of Sasines of Inverness, vol. 7, fol. 316, from which the following is an extract - "Compearit personally John Mackenzie, "naturall" broyr to ane noble Erle Kenneth Erle of Seaforth Lord of Kintail, etc., as bailzie in that part," on behalf of "the noble Lady, Dame Isobell Mackenzie, Countess of Seaforth, sister german to Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbat, Knight, future ladie to the said noble Erle." Another authentic document having a most important bearing on this question was recently discovered in the office of the Sheriff-Clerk of Tain. It is a discharge by Patrick Smith of Braco, dated and registered in the Commissary Books at Fortrose, on the 4th of December, 1668, in which the parties are described as "Kenneth Erle of Seafort, Lord Kintail, as principal, and John Mackenzie of Gruinyard, designit in the obligatione vnder-wrytten his "naturall" brother, as cautioner." Further, George of Kildun married, first, Mary Skene, daughter of Skene of Skene, in 1661. This is proved by a charter to her of her jointure lands of Kincardine, etc. (see Particular Register of Sasines Invss., vol. ix. fol. 9). He married, secondly, Margaret, daughter of Urquhart of Craighouse. The absolute impossibility is at once obvious of George of Kildun - who only married his first wife in 1661 - having had a son, John Mackenzie of Gruinard, in a position to have obtained a charter in his favour of the lands of Little Gruinard, etc., in 1669 - within eight years of his reputed father's marriage to his first wife - and who was himself designated in that charter as of "Meikle Gruinard," while it is proved by undoubted official documents that John of Gruinard's "wife" had lands disponed to her as his wife in 1655; that is, six years before the marriage of George of Kildun, John's alleged father. And further, how could John of Gruinard's second son, Kenneth, have married, as be is known to have done, the widow of Kenneth Og, fourth Earl of Seaforth, who died in 1701, if John, his father, had been the son by a second marriage of George of Kildun, who married his first wife in 1661? The thing is absolutely impossible.
Kenneth Mor, third Earl of Seaforth, who, according to the Gruinard Genealogy, was John of Gruinard's uncle, was born at Brahan Castle in 1635. In 1651 he is described as "a child" by a contemporary writer, who says that the Kintail people declined to rise with him in that year during his father's absence on the Continent, because "he was but a "child," and his father, their master, was in life." Colin, first Earl of Seaforth, died in 1633, and the author of the Ancient MS. says that "Earl George, being then the Laird of Kildun, married before his brother's death, the Lord Forbes's daughter." Thus, George of Kildun could not have been born before 1636 or 1637 at the very earliest; and the date of his first marriage, twenty-four years later, strongly corroborates this. How then could he have had a married son, John Mackenzie of Gruinard, whose wife undoubtedly obtained lands in 1655; that is, when Kildun himself was only 18 years of age, and when John, already designated of Gruinard, was, in 1656, old enough to be cautioner for Kenneth, Earl of Seaforth? Proof of the same conclusive character could be adduced to any extent, but in face of the documents already quoted, it is obviously superfluous to do so.
John Mackenzie, I. of Gruinard, could not in the nature of things have been a son of the second George Mackenzie of Kildun. He was, on the other hand, undoubtedly, the "natural" son of the first George, who succeeded his brother Colin as second Earl of Seaforth, and it necessarily follows that his representatives can have no claim whatever to the Chiefship of the Clan, or to the ancient honours of the family of Kintail and Seaforth. We shall now proceed to show that these distinctions belong to and are at present possessed by the male representative of
THE MACKENZIES OF ALLANGRANGE.
HAVING disposed of the only two serious claims made to the Chiefship of the Clan in later times our next step is to show who the present Chief is. To do this we must go back to Kenneth, created Lord Mackenzie of Kintail in 1609; for there is no male representative of any later head of the House in existence, so far as can be ascertained, between that date and this. Lord Kenneth had seven sons -
1. Colin Ruadh or "the Red Earl," his heir and successor, who died, in 1633, without surviving male issue.
2. John Mackenzie of Lochslinn, who married Isabel, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, V. of Gairloch, and died in 1631, having been poisoned at Tam, without issue male. His only daughter, Margaret, married Sir Norman Macleod, I. of Bernera, with issue.
3. Kenneth, who died unmarried.
Lord Kenneth, XII. of Kintail, married secondly, Isabel, daughter of Sir Gilbert Ogilvie of Powrie, with issue -
4. Alexander, who died unmarried.
5. George, who succeeded his brother Colin, as second Earl of Seaforth, and whose line terminated in Lady Caroline Mackenzie, who died without issue in 1847, her father Kenneth, Baron Ardelve and Earl of Seaforth in the peerage of Ireland, the last male of his line, having died at the Cape of Good Hope in 1781.
6. Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine, whose male issue was proved extinct at the Allangrange Service in 1829.
7. SIMON MACKENZIE, who, after the death of his brother John, was designated of Lochslinn, and whose representative will be shown to be the present head and heir male of the ancient family of Kintail and Seaforth, and Chief of the Clan. This SIMON married, first, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Peter Bruce of Ferrar, D.D., Principal of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, and son of Bruce of Fingask, by Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Wedderburn of Blackness, with issue - five sons and one daughter, Jane, who married Robert Douglas of Katewell, in the parish of Kiltearn, Ross-shire, and secondly, Sir James Grant of Moyness.
The eldest of Simon's five sons was the famous SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE of Rosehaugh, Lord Advocate for Scotland, whose history is so well known that it would serve no good purpose to give only such a brief account of it as could be given in the space here available. He wrote several works of admitted literary merit, his "Institutes" being to this day considered a standard legal authority. He left an autobiography in MS. which was published by his widow in 1716. The estate of Rosehaugh, where he always took up his residence while in the Highlands, was, in his time, profusely covered with the Dog Rose, a fact which first suggested to the famous lawyer the idea of designating that property by the name of "Vallis Rosarum," or Rosehaugh. Sir George married first, Elizabeth, daughter of John Dickson of Hartree, with issue - (1) John; (2) Simon; (3) George, all of whom died young and unmarried; (4) Agnes, who in 1705 married Sir James Stuart Mackenzie, first Earl of Bute, with issue, whose descendants, now represented by the Earl of Wharncliffe, succeeded to his Ross-shire estates, but since sold by them, though still retaining the name and arms of the family. (For the succession see Retour of James Marquis of Bute, January, 1721); (5) Elizabeth, who married, first, Sir Archibald Cockburn of Langton, with issue, and, secondly, the Hon. Sir James Mackenzie of Royston, Baronet, with issue - George (who married but died before his father, without male issue), and two daughters - Anne, who married Sir William Dick of Prestonfield; and Elizabeth, who married Sir John Stuart of Grandtully, with issue.
Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh married, secondly, Margaret, daughter of Haliburton of Pitcur, with issue, (6) James, who died young; (7) George, who succeeded his father as II. of Rosehaugh, and married - with issue, an only daughter, who died without issue; (8) Jean, and (9) Margaret, both of whom died without issue. From this it will be seen that the male representation of Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, eldest son of the Hon. Simon Mackenzie of Lochslinn, terminated at the death of his only son. We must therefore revert to SIMON MACKENZIE, the immediate younger brother of Sir George Mackenzie, and second son of the Hon. Simon Mackenzie of Lochslinn, from whom JAMES FOWLER MACKENZIE OF ALLANGRANGE, present Chief of the Clan, is descended as follows:
SIMON, who died at Lochbroom in 1664, married Jane, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, I. of Ballone, brother of Sir John Mackenzie of Tarbat and uncle to George, first Earl of Cromarty (marriage contract 1663) with issue - an only and posthumous son,
I. SIMON MACKENZIE, first of Allangrange, an Advocate at the Scottish Bar. This property he acquired through his wife in the following manner. Alexander Mackenzie, I. of Kilcoy, third son of Colin, XI. of Kintail, had four sons, of whom the youngest, Roderick, obtained the lands of Kilmuir, in the Black Isle. He became a successful lawyer, Sheriff-Depute, and Member of Parliament, and was knighted by Charles II. Sir Roderick, at the same time proprietor of Findon, acquired several other properties by purchase. He died in 1692, and on the death of his only son in the following year, without issue, his unentailed estates, which were not included in the Barony, and which had become very considerable, and all his moveable property, were divided equally among his four daughters, as heirs portioners. Isobel, the third of these ladies, on the 22nd of August, 1693, married, as his first wife, Simon Mackenzie, the Advocate, and carried to him in 1699 as her portion, the estate of Allan - formerly the property and residence of the Earl of Seaforth - which has ever since been known as Allangrange. By Isobel Mackenzie, daughter of Sir Roderick Mackenzie of Findon, Simon had issue -
1. Roderick, who died unmarried.
2. George, who succeeded his father as II. of Allangrange.
3. Kenneth, of whom there is no trace.
4. William, a Captain in the Dutch army. He married a Miss Innes, with issue, since proved extinct.
5. Simon, who died, without issue, in the West Indies.
6. Lilias, who died unmarried.
7. Elizabeth, who in 1745 married, as his third wife John Matheson, V. of Fernaig, ancestor of Sir Kenneth James Matheson, Baronet of Lochalsh, with issue - one son, Captain Alexander Matheson, of the 78th Highlanders, who died in India in 1809, without issue.
8. Eliza, who married Ludovic, son of Roderick Mackenzie, V. of Redcastle.
9. Isobel, who married Murdoch Cameron, with issue, at Allangrange.
Simon married, secondly, on the 28th of August, 1718, Susanna, daughter of Colonel Alexander Fraser of Kinneries, generally known as "the Coroner," with issue -
10. Colin, who married a Miss Macdonald in Lochaber, with issue - William, who died unmarried in the West Indies; Susanna, who married a Mr Cameron, with issue; and a daughter, who died unmarried.
11. Alexander, a Doctor of Medicine, who died without issue, in Jamaica, in 1780.
12. Margaret, married Dr John Mackenzie of Newton, who died in 1759, with issue - Dr Simon of Mullet Hall, Jamaica, who there married Catherine, daughter of Samuel Gregory from Nairn; George; Roderick; Kenneth; and Isobel.
13. Frances, who married Lieutenant James Cumming of the Marines (marriage contract 1752), without issue.
14. Susanna, and
15. Janet, both of whom died unmarried.
Simon was drowned in the River Orrin, in February, 1730, while returning home from a visit to a friend in Fairburn, when he was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
II. GEORGE MACKENZIE, second of Allangrange, who in May, 1731, married Margaret, daughter of John and grand-daughter of Sir Donald Bayne of Tulloch. They have a retour in 1732. The male heirs of the Baynes of Tulloch—originally a sept of Mackays from Sutherlandshire, who settled down in the vicinity of Dingwall early in the sixteenth century - having terminated in John, this lady's father, she carried the lineal representation of that old and respectable house to the family of Allangrange. By Margaret Bayne, George Mackenzie had issue -
1. Simon, who died young in 1731.
2. William, a Captain in the 25th Regiment. He died before his father, unmarried, in 1764.
3. George, who died young.
4. Alexander, who died unmarried before his father, in 1765.
5. John, who succeeded his father in Allangrange.
6. Margaret, who, as his second wife, married Alexander Chisholm, XXII. of Chisholm, with issue, and carried on the succession of that family.
7. Isobell, who married Simon Mackenzie of Langwell, a Captain in the 4th Regiment (marriage contract 1767), with issue.
8. Mary, who married Kenneth Chisholm, Fasnakyle, a cadet of Knockfin, with issue - Margaret, who married John Chisholm, Comar.
George had six other daughters - Anne, Janet, Susanna, Lilias, Ann,
Barbara, and Elizabeth, all of whom died young or unmarried.
He died in 1773, when he was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
III. JOHN MACKENZIE, third of Allangrange, who at an early age was appointed Examiner of Customs in Edinburgh. He married, first, Catherine, eldest daughter and co-heiress of James Falconer of Monkton (marriage contract 1781), and grand-daughter of the Right Hon. Lord Halkerton and the Hon. Jane Falconer. By the acquisition of his wife's fortune John was able to devote himself to his favourite agricultural pursuits, in which he was eminently successful in his day. By his wife, who died in 1790, he left issue -
1. George Falconer, his heir and successor.
2. Jane Falconer, who married John Gillanders of Highfield, with issue - (1) Captain George Gillanders, who died without issue; (2) Captain John Mackenzie Bowman Gillanders, H.E.I.C.S., of Highfield, who died, without issue, in 1852; (3) Alexander Gillanders; (4) James Falconer Gillanders, of Highfield, who in 1852 married Amy, daughter of the late Major Charles Robertson of Kindeace, with issue - George Francis Gillanders, late of Highfield, who, on the 21st of December, 1876, married Geraldine Anne Isabella Mary Jane, daughter of Major James Wardlaw, Belmaduthy, with issue - an only daughter, Frances Geraldine; (5) Frances Williamina Gillanders, who died without issue; (6) Margaret Mackenzie Gillanders; (7) Catherine, who married William Inglis, of the H.E.I.C.S.
3. Margaret Bayne, who died young.
4. Margaret Bayne, who also died young.
John married, secondly, Barbara, daughter of George Gillanders, first of Highfield, widow of John Bowman, an East India merchant in London, without issue. She died in 1823. He died in 1812, when he was succeeded by his eldest son,
IV. GEORGE FALCONER MACKENZIE, fourth of Allangrange, who was in 1829 served heir male to his ancestor, the Hon. Simon Mackenzie of Lochslinn, and heir male in general to Simon's father, Kenneth, created first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail in 1609, and to Lord Kenneth's brother, Colin, created first Earl of Seaforth in 1623.
He matriculated arms accordingly in the Lyon Office of Scotland.
On the 9th of January, 1828, he married Isabella Reid, daughter of
James Fowler of Raddery and Fairburn, in the county of Ross, and
The Grange, Jamaica, with issue -
1. John Falconer, who succeeded his father, and died unmarried in 1849.
2. James Fowler, who succeeded his brother John.
3. George Thomas, who married Ethel Newman, London, without issue male.
4. Catherine Sophia, who died young.
5. Anna Watson.
George Falconer Mackenzie died in 1841, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
V. JOHN FALCONER MACKENZIE, fifth of Allangrange, who died unmarried in 1849, when he was succeeded by his next brother,
VI. JAMES FOWLER MACKENZIE, now of Allangrange, Chief of the Mackenzies, and heir male to the dormant honours and ancient titles of the historic family of Kintail and Seaforth. He is still unmarried, and it is much to be feared that after his death and that of his brother, George, who is without issue male, the Chiefship of this great Clan may go a-begging. The only member of the family whose male representation has not been proved extinct is Kenneth, third son of Simon, I. of Allangrange, born about two hundred years ago, and of whom or of his descendants, if any, nothing is known for two centuries. And trace of them is now scarcely within the region of possibility, even if in existence, which is extremely improbable.
The Hon. Simon Mackenzie of Lochslinn, seventh son of Kenneth, first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, had by his first wife, three other sons - Thomas Mackenzie, I. of Loggie; John Mackenzie, I. of Inchcoulter or Balcony and Colin Mackenzie, Clerk to the Privy Council, but the male issue of all three has been proved extinct. He, however, married again; and it is among the descendants of the second marriage that the Chiefship of the Clan must be sought for should the heirs male of Allangrange at any time fail.
THE OLD MACKENZIES OF DUNDONNEL.
THE HON. SIMON MACKENZIE of Lochslinn married, secondly, in 1630 (marriage contract dated at Kingillie on the 12th of January), Agnes, daughter of William Fraser, V. of Culbokie, and widow of Alexander Mackenzie, I. of Ballone, brother of Sir John Mackenzie of Tarbat, with issue -
1. Kenneth Mor Mackenzie, first of Glenmarkassie and Dundonnel.
2. Isobel, who, in 1673, married Murdoch Mackenzie, VI. of Fairburn, with issue.
3. Elizabeth, who married the Rev. Roderick Mackenzie, minister and laird of Avoch - the land of which he had purchased - son of John, Archdean of Ross, natural son of Sir Roderick Mackenzie, Tutor of Kintail, with issue. This
I. KENNETH MOR MACKENZIE, first of Glenmarkassie, acquired the lands of Dundonnel, or "Achadh-Tigh-Domhnuill," from Roderick Mackenzie, III. of Redcastle, in 1690, by excambion for Meikle Scatwell. In 1681 he is described as Chamberlain of Assynt, and in 1690 he receives a discharge from the Hon. John Mackenzie, then designed "of Assynt," for 2448 merks, being the full rent for the estate crop of 1689. He married Annabella, daughter of John Mackenzie, I. of Gruinard, natural son of George, second Earl of Seaforth, with issue -
1. Kenneth, his heir and successor.
2. Alexander, of whom nothing is known.
3. Colin Riabhach of Ardinglash, who married Annabella, daughter of Simon Mackenzie of Loggie, without surviving issue.
4. Simon, of whom there is no trace.
5. Barbara, who married Alexander Mackenzie III. of Ballone (sasine 1727), with issue.
6. Sibella, who married John Mackenzie, II. of Ardloch, with issue.
7. Annabella, who married James Mackenzie of Keppoch, Lochbroom, brother of John Mackenzie, II. of Ardloch, with issue.
Kenneth Mor was succeeded by his eldest son,
II. KENNETH MACKENZIE, second of Dundonnel, who married Jean, daughter of John Chisholm, XX. of Chisholm, with issue -
1. Kenneth, his heir and successor.
2. Captain Alexander, of the 73rd Regiment, who died in 1783, and whose issue, if any, is unknown.
3. John, who married Barbara, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, I. of Ardloch, with issue, several sons, all of whom died young, and two daughters - Annabella, who married Alexander Mackenzie, Rivochan, Kishorn, with issue, twenty-five children; and Isabella. John's widow married, as her second husband, Roderick, sixth son of George Mackenzie, II. of Gruinard, with issue.
Kenneth was succeeded by his eldest son,
III. KENNETH MACKENZIE, third of Dundonnel, who in 1737, married
Jean, daughter of Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, IV. and first Baronet of
Scatwell, with issue -
1. George, his heir and successor.
2. Kenneth, a W.S. who died in 1790, and whose issue, if any, is unknown.
3. William, an Episcopalian minister, who married, with issue. If any male descendants of his exist and can be traced one of them may, at no distant date, become Chief of the Clan.
4. Roderick, who was also married, with issue, but of whose descendants, if any, nothing is known.
5. Captain Alexander, who died in India, without issue.
6. Captain Simon, who was married, and died in Nairn in 1812, whether with or without issue, at present unknown.
7. Captain Lewis, who died in India, without issue.
8. Janet, who married Colin Mackenzie, Jamaica brother of George Mackenzie, Kildonan of Lochbroom without issue. She died in 1783.
9. Isabella, who died unmarried.
Kenneth, whose wife predeceased him in 1786, died in 1789, when he was succeeded by his eldest son,
IV. GEORGE MACKENZIE, fourth of Dundonnel, who married Abigail, daughter of Thomas Mackenzie, V. of Ord, with issue -
1. Alexander, who died young.
2. Kenneth, who succeeded his father in the estates.
3. Thomas, who succeeded his brother Kenneth.
4. Jane, who married the Rev. Dr Ross, minister of Lochbroom, with issue.
George was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
V. KENNETH MACKENZIE, fifth of Dundonnel, who, in 1817, married Isabella, daughter of Donald Roy of Treeton, without issue. He left the estate by will to his brother-in-law, Robert Roy, W.S., who, however, lost it after a long and costly litigation with Kenneth's brother,
VI. THOMAS MACKENZIE, sixth of Dundonnel, who was financially ruined by the litigation in the case, and the property had to be sold in 1835, to meet the costs of the trial. It was bought by Murdo Munro-Mackenzie of Ardross, grandfather of the present owner, Hugh Mackenzie of Dundonnel, and of Bundanon, Shoulhaven, New South Wales. Thomas married his cousin, Anne, eldest daughter of Alexander, VI. of Ord, with issue -
1. George Alexander, who became the representative of the family on the death of his father.
2. Thomas, who emigrated to California, and of whose issue, if any, nothing is known.
3. John Hope, who for some time resided at Tarradale House, Ross-shire.
4. Helen, who married the Hon. Justice Charles Henry Stewart of Ceylon, without issue.
5. Isabella, who resided in Elgin, unmarried.
Thomas was succeeded as representative of the family by his eldest son
VII. GEORGE ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, who, on the death of his father, became head of the original Mackenzies of Dundonnel, although the estates had been sold to another family. He married Louisa, daughter of Captain Stewart of the Celyon Rifles, without issue. If his next brother, who went to California, survived George Alexander, then, on his death, he -
VIII. THOMAS MACKENZIE, would have succeeded as head of his house, and failing him and his descendants, if any, the representation of the old Mackenzies of Dundonnel would have fallen to JOHN HOPE MACKENZIE, third son of Thomas, VI. of Dundonnel and last proprietor of the family estates. He married Louisa, daughter of Captain Stewart of the Ceylon Rifles, widow of his deceased brother, George Alexander, without issue, and died in London in 1892.
The only members of this family whose descendants can ever now by any possibility succeed to the Chiefship should it pass from the Mackenzies of Allangrange are (1) Alexander, second son of Kenneth Mor, first of Dundonnel, but of him there is no trace for more than two hundred years, and never likely to be. (2) Simon, Alexander's youngest brother, of whom nothing has been heard during the same period. (3) Captain Alexander, of the 73rd Regiment, second son of Kenneth Mackenzie, II. of Dundonnel, who died, probably unmarried, in 1783. In any case there is nothing known of any descendants. (4) Kenneth, W.S., second son of Kenneth Mackenzie, III. of Dundonnel, who died in 1790, and is not known to have been married. (5) William, third son of the same Kenneth, an Episcopalian minister, who was married, and left issue, of whom, however, we know nothing. (6) Roderick, William's immediate younger brother, and third son of the same Kenneth Mackenzie, III. of Dundonnel, who was also married, with issue, but whether extinct or not we cannot say. (7) Captain Simon, who was married and died in Nairn in 1812, but of his descendants, if any, we at present know nothing. (8) Captain Lewis, who died in India, probably, unmarried, but this has not been conclusively established; and (9) Thomas, second son of Thomas, VI. of Dundonnel, who in early life emigrated to California, and regarding whom nothing has since been heard. If he is still alive or has left any surviving male issue the late John Hope Mackenzie could not have succeeded as head of the family, and Thomas, or his male heir, if now in life, occupies that position; and on the failure of the Mackenzies of Allangrange, he or his representative will become Chief of the Mackenzies. Failing Thomas, or his male heirs, that honour would fall to the heirs male, if any, of each of the eight others mentioned, in the inverse order in which their names are here set forth.
THE MACKENZIES OF HILTON.
THE MACKENZIES OF HILTON are descended from Alexander Mackenzie, VI. of Kintail, known among the Highlanders as "Alastair Ionraic," by his first wife, Anna, daughter of John Macdougall of Dunolly.
The first of the family was
I. DUNCAN MACKENZIE, designated of Hilton, a barony situated in Strathbraan, bounded on the north by Loch Fannich, on the south by the ridge of the hills on the north side of Strathconan, on the east by Achnault, and on the west by Ledgowan. Duncan married a daughter of Ewen Cameron, XIII. of Lochiel, with issue - an only son, his heir and successor -
II. ALLAN MACKENZIE, second of Hilton, Loggie or Brea, from whom the family is known in Gaelic as "Clann Alain." He married a daughter of Alexander Dunbar of Conzie and Kilbuyack, third son of the Sheriff of Moray, with issue -
1. Murdoch, his heir and successor.
2. John, progenitor of the Mackenzies of Loggie.
3. Roderick, who married, with issue, an only daughter, Agnes, who married Alexander Mackenzie, II. of Killichrist, with issue.
4. Alastair, who married, with issue - a daughter, who married Roderick, son of Murdoch Mackenzie, III. of Achilty, with issue - the Rev. Murdo Mackenzie, Bishop of Ranfoe, in Ireland.
Allan's wife survived him, and married, as her second husband,
Kenneth Mackenzie of Meikle Allan, now Allangrange, second son of
Hector Roy Mackenzie, I. of Gairloch.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
III. MURDOCH MACKENZIE, third of Hilton, who married a daughter of Innes of Innerbreakie, now Invergordon, with issue - an only son,
IV. JOHN MACKENZIE, fourth of Hilton, who married Margaret, daughter of Dunbar of Inchbrook, with issue -
1. Murdoch, his heir.
2. Alexander, who, in 1640, married Margaret, natural daughter of John Roy Mackenzie, IV. of Gairloch, apparently without issue. The marriage contract is in the Gairloch charter chest.
3. Colin, M.A. of Aberdeen University, and minister of Kilearnan, where he died. He married Miss Dundas, with issue - Kenneth, well known in his day as Deacon of the Edinburgh Goldsmiths, who left no issue.
4. A daughter who married John Sinclair, Caithness.
5. A daughter, who married John Matheson, "Ian Og," in Lochalsh, whose eldest son, Alexander, became the progenitor of the Mathesons of Lochalsh, Attadale, and Ardross, represented in this country by Sir Kenneth James Matheson, Baronet, and others.
John was succeeded by his eldest son,
V. MURDOC MACKENZIE, fifth of Hilton, who married Mary, eldest daughter of the Rev. Murdoch Murchison, Auchtertyre, minister of Kintail, with issue -
1. Alexander, his heir.
2. Roderick, who married the eldest daughter of Alexander, third son of Murdoch Mackenzie, II. of Redcastle, with issue - a son, Colin, who died without issue, in 1682.
3. Colin, who married Isobel, daughter of Donald Simpson, Chamberlain of Ferintosh, with issue - (1) Alexander, locally called "Sanders," who succeeded his grandfather, Donald Simpson, as Chamberlain of Ferintosh. He married Helen, daughter of William Munro, Ardullie, with issue - two sons and two daughters - (a) Colin, who died unmarried, but left a natural son, of whom are descended several respectable families in Ferintosh; (b) Donald, who married Jean, legitimate male succession of his paternal grandfather, Alexander, eldest son of Colin, third son of Murdoch Mackenzie, V. of Hilton. Donald had several daughters; first Mary, who was along with her father and brother when they were drowned, but she was saved, and married, as his second wife, the Rev. Colin Mackenzie, minister of Fodderty, first of the family of Glack, of whom presently second, Jean, who married Colin Murchison third, Isabel, who married David Ross; fourth, a daughter, who married Mackenzie of Ussie, with issue - two sons, Donald and Frank; fifth, Anne, who married Lewis Grant; and sixth, Helen, who married Alexander Mackenzie of Ardnagrask, afterwards at Loggie-side, from whom was descended Bailie John Mackenzie, of Inverness. Alexander's ("Sanders") eldest daughter, Mary, in 1723, married Donald, son of John Murchison, Achtertyre; the second, Elizabeth, married William Martin of Inchfure, with issue - a daughter, Ann, celebrated for her beauty, who, as his second wife, married Norman Macleod, XIX. of Macleod, with issue - three daughters, Elizabeth, Anne, and Rich Mary, for whose marriage and descendants see Mackenzie's "History of the Macleods," pp. 154-155. (2) Roderick, Colin's second son, whose male heir carried on the representation of the family on the death, without legitimate male issue, of Alexander Mackenzie, X. of Hilton, when he was succeeded by Roderick's grandson, Alexander, as XI. of Hilton, whose descent will be shown presently. John, a third son of Colin, is on record in 1730, but nothing more is known of him.
4. Murdoch, fourth son of Murdoch, V. of Hilton, married Agnes Helen, daughter of Donald Taylor, a Bailie of Inverness (1665), with issue - an only son, Alexander, who in early life entered the service of Kenneth, Earl of Seaforth, and who, in 1709, became Chamberlain of the Lewis for Earl William. In the same year Alexander married Katherine, daughter of Andrew Duncan, factor for Viscount Stormont, with issue, whose descendants are unknown. Murdoch had also a daughter, Jean, who daughter of Thomas Forbes of Raddery and of the lands of Fortrose as far as Ethie, with issue - an only son, Alexander, who was drowned along with his father, while fording the Conon, Opposite Dingwall, in 1759, when, the son being unmarried, perished the married Hector Mackenzie, by whom she had a son, Kenneth, a Jesuit Priest in Spain, and several daughters.
5. Isobel, who married the Rev. Donald Macrae, minister of Kintail, with issue.
Murdoch was succeeded by his eldest son,
VI. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, sixth of Hilton, who, in 1630, married, first, Annabella, second daughter of John Mackenzie, I. of Ord, without issue, and secondly, Sibella, eldest daughter of Roderick Mackenzie, I. of Applecross, widow in succession of Alexander Macleod, V. of Raasay, and Thomas Graham of Drynie, with issue - an only son,
VII. EWEN MACKENZIE, who succeeded as seventh of Hilton. He married, in 1685, Elizabeth, third daughter of Colin Mackenzie, IV. of Redcastle, with issue -
1. John, his heir and successor.
2. Colin, who succeeded his brother John as IX. of Hilton.
3. Florence, who married her cousin, Alexander Macrae, son of the Rev. Donald Macrae, minister of Kintail.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
VIII. JOHN MACKENZIE, eighth of Hilton, who married Margaret, daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie of Alduinny (marriage contract 1710), without issue. He joined the Earl of Mar, and was one of "The four Johns of Scotland," - Ceithear Ianan na h-Alba - killed at the battle of Sheriff-Muir in November, 1715, where he commanded a Company of the Mackenzies. He was succeeded by his brother,
IX. COLIN MACKENZIE, ninth of Hilton, who married Catherine, daughter of Christopher Mackenzie, Arinhugair, with issue -
1. John, who married Helen, daughter of Roderick Mackenzie, VII. of Fairburn, and died without issue, before his father, in 1751.
2. Alexander, who succeeded to the estate.
3. A daughter, who, as his first wife, married John Macdonell, XII. of Glengarry, with issue - Alastair, who carried on the representation of that family, and another son.
He died in 1756, aged 65, and was succeeded by his only surviving son,
X. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, tenth of Hilton, who married Mary, daughter of George Mackenzie, II. of Gruinard, without issue, when the direct male line of Murdoch, V. of Hilton, came to an end. He, however, had a natural son - Alexander, well known in his day and yet affectionately spoken of by very old people as "Alastair Mor mac Fhir Bhaile Chnuic," Seaforth's principal and most successful recruiting serjeant when originally raising the 78th Highland Regiment. And many a curious story is still told of Alastair's successful efforts to procure willing and sometimes hesitating recruits for the Regiment of his Chief. He married Annabella Mackenzie, of the Gruinard family, by whom he had a numerous offspring; and many of his descendants, one of whom is Major Alexander Colin Mackenzie, of the 1st V.B. Seaforth Highlanders, Maryburgh, occupy responsible positions in several parts of the country.
We must now revert, in order to pick up the legitimate male line of succession, to
RODERICK MACKENZIE, I. of Brea, Chamberlain of Ferintosh, second son of Colin, by his wife Mary Simpson, third son of Murdoch, V. of Hilton, all the intermediate male heirs having, as has been shown, become extinct. He acquired Brea in Ferintosh, in wadset and it remained in his family for two generations. By marriage he became possessed of the ruined Castle of Dingwall, and the lands adjoining, the ancient residence of the Earls of Ross; also the lands of Longcroft. Roderick married Una, or Winifred, daughter of John Cameron, Town Clerk of Dingwall, with issue -
1. John of Brea, commonly known as "John the Laird." He resided at Tarradale and married, in 1759, Beatrice, second daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, VIII. of Davochmaluag, by Magdalen, daughter of Hugh Rose, XIII. of Kilravock, with issue - (1) Roderick, who died unmarried; (2) Alexander, who succeeded as XI. of Hilton, and of whom presently; (3) Kenneth of Inverinate, who married Anne, daughter of Thomas Mackenzie, IV. of Highfield and VI. of Applecross, with issue - (a) Thomas, who succeeded as X. of Applecross, in right of his mother, and whose male heirs have died out (see Applecross genealogy); (b) Alexander, who married Harriet, daughter of Newton of Curriehill, with issue - Kenneth, who died unmarried; Alexander, a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, who died unmarried; Marion, who married Charles Holmes, barrister, without issue; and Harriet, unmarried; (c) Jean, who died unmarried; (d) Elizabeth, who married her cousin, Major John Mackenzie, XII. of Hilton, with issue, whose descendants, in Australia, now represent the male line of the family; (e) Flora, who married the Rev. Charles Downie, minister of Contin who died in 1852, leaving issue - Kenneth Mackenzie Downie, a surgeon in Australia, and five daughters, all dead; (f) Catherine, (g) Mary, and (h) Johanna, all three of whom died unmarried. The other sons and daughters of John Mackenzie of Brea, "the Laird," were (4) Colin, called "the Baron," born at Tarradale, on the 3rd of December, 1759, and died unmarried; (5) Peter, who also died unmarried; (6) Duncan, who married Jessie, daughter of Mackenzie of Strathgarve, without issue; (7) Arthur, who died unmarried; (8) Magdalen, who died unmarried; (9) Marcella or Medley, who married the Rev. Dr Downie, in the Lewis; (10) Mary, who in 1790, married her cousin, the Rev. Donald Mackenzie minister of Fodderty, with issue - Major Colin, Royal Engineers, who married Anne, daughter of John Pendrill, of Bath, without issue; and (11) Elizabeth, who died unmarried.
2. Colin Mackenzie, minister of Fodderty, who purchased an estate in Aberdeenshire, and was the first of the Mackenzies of Glack, in that county, of whom later on.
3. Sir Peter, M.D., a knight of Nova Scotia, Surgeon-General in the army, who died unmarried.
Roderick Mackenzie was succeeded in Brea by his eldest son,
JOHN MACKENZIE, II. of Brea, with surviving issue, among several others already mentioned, Alexander, who as nearest male heir collateral, succeeded to the lands and barony of the family as
XI. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, eleventh of Hilton and Brea, who was, as has just been shown, the great-grandson of Colin, third son of Murdoch, V. of Hilton, and his heir of line. Alexander was born at Tigh-a-phris of Ferintosh, on the 3rd of July, 1756. He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, but was afterwards bred a millwright to qualify him for the supervision of family estates and business connections in Jamaica, where he subsequently became a Colonel of Militia. On the death of his maternal uncle, Alexander Mackenzie, VIII. of Davochmaluag, in 1776, and of that gentleman's grandson, Lieutenant Kenneth Mackenzie, who was killed at Saratoga in 1777, Alexander of Hilton succeeded also to the Davochmaluag estate. The adjoining properties of Davochpollo and Davochcairn having been previously acquired by his father, John Mackenzie, second of Brea, Alexander combined the three properties into one, and gave it the name of Brea, after the former possession of the family in Ferintosh. He greatly improved this estate and laid it out in its present beautiful form. His land improvements, however, turned out unremunerative. His Hilton property was heavily encumbered in consequence of the part taken by members of the family in the Risings of 1696, 1715, and 1745, and great losses having been incurred in connection with his West Indian estates, Alexander got into pecuniary difficulties, and all his possessions, at home and abroad, had to be sold either by himself or by his trustees to meet the demands of his creditors. He was a distinguished agriculturist for his time, and was the first, along with Sir George Mackenzie, VII. of Coul, and his own cousin, Major Forbes Mackenzie, to introduce Cheviot sheep to the Highlands for hill grazings.
He married Mary James, in Jamaica, with issue -
1. John, his heir.
2. Alexander, who married his cousin Charlotte, daughter of the Rev. Dr Downie, with issue - (1) Alexander, who died unmarried; (2) Downie, who died unmarried; (3) John; (4) Kenneth, who married Flora, daughter of the Rev. John Macdonald, a native of Inverness, who emigrated to and was a minister in Australia, by his wife Mary (who died in 1878), third daughter of Neil Macleod, XI. of Gesto, Isle of Skye; (5) Charles, who died unmarried; (6) William, who died unmarried; (7) Mary James, who married her cousin, Kenneth Mackenzie, XIV. of Hilton, in Australia; and (8) Jessie, who died unmarried. Alexander emigrated to Australia, where he died.