3. Kenneth, W.S., who married Anne Urquhart, Aberdeen, with issue - an only daughter, who died unmarried. He married, secondly, Elizabeth Jones, with issue, and died in Canada, where his widow and children continued to reside, in the city of Toronto.
4. Mary, who died unmarried in Australia a few years ago.
Alexander died at Lasswade in 1840, and was succeeded as representative of the family by his eldest son,
XII. JOHN MACKENZIE, Colonel of the 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry, and for many years Superintendent of the Government breeding stud at Buxar, India. He married, in 1813, his cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie of Inverinate, W.S., with issue -
1. Alexander, who succeeded him as representative of the family.
2. Kenneth, who succeeded his brother Alexander.
3. Mary, who married Dr James of the 30th Regiment, without issue.
4. Anne, who married General Arthur Hall of the 5th Bengal Cavalry, with issue.
5. Elizabeth Jane, who died unmarried.
Colonel John died at Simla in 1856, when he was succeeded as representative of the family by his eldest son,
XIII. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, who emigrated to Australia, and died unmarried in New South Wales in 1862, when he was succeeded as representative of the family by his younger brother,
XIV. KENNETH MACKENZIE, who recently resided at Tyrl-Tyrl, Taralga, near Sydney, New South Wales. He married his cousin, Mary James, daughter of Captain Alexander Mackenzie of Brea, second son of Alexander, XI. of Hilton, with issue -
1. John, his heir; (2) Kenneth; (3) Downie; (4) Flora; (5) Jessie, all in Australia.
THE MACKENZIES OF GLACK.
THIS family is descended from Roderick, second son of Colin, third son of Murdoch Mackenzie, V. of Hilton. The issue of Roderick, Hilton's second son, by the daughter of Alexander Mackenzie of Redcastle, and Roderick's eldest brother, has already been proved extinct. Colin, Murdoch of Hilton's third son, had - (1) a son, Alexander, whose male issue died out in 1759; and (2) Roderick, Chamberlain of the Lewis. This Roderick had three sons - (1) John Mackenzie, I. of Brea, who carried on the male line of Hilton, and whose representative, now in Australia, is head of that family; (2) Colin; and (3) Sir Peter, a Surgeon-General in the army, who died unmarried. Roderick's second son,
I. THE REV. COLIN MACKENZIE, minister of Fodderty, purchased the estate of Glack - in Aberdeenshire, and became the first of this family. He was born in 1707, educated at the University of Aberdeen, and in 1734 appointed parish minister of Fodderty. Subsequently, for services rendered to the family of the forfeited Earl of Cromarty, he was appointed by the Earl's eldest son, Lord Macleod, Chaplain to Macleod's Highlanders, afterwards the 71st Highland Light Infantry, an office which proved more honorary than lucrative, for he had to find a substitute, at his own expense, to perform the duties of the office. Colin inherited a considerable fortune in gold from his father, while in right of his mother he succeeded to the ruined Castle of Dingwall, one of the ancients seats of the old Earls of Ross, and its lands, as also the lands of Longcroft. He gave the site of the Castle, at the time valued at L300, to Henry Davidson of Tulloch as a contribution towards the erection of a manufactory which that gentleman proposed to erect for the employment of the surplus male and female labour in Dingwall and its vicinity, but which was never begun. He sold the remaining portion of the Castle lands and those of Longcroft to his nephew, Alexander Mackenzie, XI. of Hilton, and afterwards bought Glack in Aberdeenshire, of which he and his descendants have since been designated. Colin was on intimate terms with the Lord President Forbes of Culloden, and maintained a constant correspondence with his lordship, the result of which was, along with the demands and influence of his clerical calling, to keep him out of the Rising of 1745, although all his sympathies were with the Jacobites. He is said to have been the first who, in his own district, received intelligence of the landing of Prince Charles in Scotland. It reached him during the night, whereupon he at once crossed Knockfarrel to Brahan Castle, where, finding his Chief in bed, he without awakening her ladyship, communicated to his lordship what had occurred. Seaforth, having had his estate recently restored to him, was easily prevailed upon by his clansmen to keep out of the way in the meantime, and both of them started for the West Coast of Ross-shire at the same time that the army of the Prince began its march eastwards. The two were in retirement at Poolewe, when two ships laden with his lordship's retainers from the Lewis sailed into Lochewe. They were at once signalled to return to Stornoway, Seaforth waving them back with the jawbone of a sheep, which he was in the act of picking for his dinner, and in this way, it is said, was fulfilled one of the prophecies of the Brahan Seer, by which it was predicted "That next time the men of Lewis should go forth to battle, they would be turned back by a weapon smaller than the jawbone of an ass." Meanwhile Seaforth's lady (we shall for greater convenience continue to call him by his former title, although it was at this time under attainder), not knowing what had become of her lord or what his real intentions were, is said to have entertained the Prince at Brahan Castle, and to have urged upon the Earl of Cromarty and his eldest son, Lord Macleod, to call out the clan in her husband's absence. Subsequently, when that Earl and his son were confined in the Tower of London for the part which they took on her advice, and when the Countess with ten children, and bearing another, were suffering the severest hardships and penury, the Rev. Colin, at great risk to himself and the interests of his family, collected the rents from the Cromarty tenants, giving his own receipt against their being required to pay again to the Forfeited Estates Commissioners, and personally carried the money to her ladyship in London. It was in acknowledgment of this service that Lord Macleod afterwards appointed him Chaplain to his newly raised regiment, Macleod's Highlanders.
It was this Colin who first fully recognised the health-giving properties of the Strathpeffer mineral springs, and who, by erecting a covered shed over one of them, placed it, for the first time, in a condition to benefit the suffering thousands who have since derived so much advantage from it. Shortly before his death, in 1801, at the very old age of ninety-five years, he conducted the opening services of the parish church of Ferintosh, and contributed largely to the funds for its erection, to commemorate the saving of his wife's life, when she was washed ashore on her horse's back, near the site of the church, when her father and brother perished by drowning while crossing the River Conon, opposite Dingwall, in 1759.
The Rev. Colin married first, Margaret, daughter of Hugh Rose, IV. of Clava, with issue, an only daughter, Margaret, who died young on the 22nd of September. 1746. He married, secondly, in 1754, his cousin, Mary, eldest daughter of Donald Mackenzie, Balnabeen, who, as has been already shown, carried on, in the female line, the succession of Alexander (Sanders), eldest son of Colin, third son of Murdoch, V. of Hilton. By her, who died in 1828, the Rev. Colin of Fodderty, and Glack had issue -
1. Roderick, his heir and successor.
2. Donald, who was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and afterwards appointed parish minister of Fodderty and Chaplain to the 71st Highlanders, his father having resigned both offices in his favour. He was a noted humorist and said by those who knew him best to be much more at heart a soldier than a minister. He married first, his cousin, Mary, daughter of John Mackenzie of Brea, "the Laird," and sister of Alexander, XI. of Hilton, with issue - (1) Colin, a Colonel of Royal Engineers, who, born in 1793, married in 1838 Ann Petgrave, daughter of John Pendrill, M.D., Bath, and died without issue, in 1869; (2) John, who ultimately succeeded as IV. of Glack, and of whom presently; (3) Elizabeth, who married Lieutenant Stewart, R.N., with issue; and (4) Mary, who died unmarried. Colin married, secondly, Mary, daughter of the Rev. Mr Fyers, Fort-George, without issue.
3. Forbes Mackenzie, a Captain in the North British (Ross-shire) Militia, afterwards Major in the East of Ross Militia, and for thirty-seven years a Deputy Lieutenant for the county. He reclaimed and laid out the greater part of the valley of the Peffery, where, on the estate of Fodderty, be was the first to apply lime to the land and to grow wheat north of the Moray Firth. He was also the first to introduce Clydesdale horses and shorthorn cattle to the Highlands, and was, as has been already said, along with Sir George Mackenzie of Coul and his own cousin, Alexander Mackenzie, XI. of Hilton, the first to import Cheviot sheep to the northern counties. He married Catherine, daughter of Angus Nicolson, Stornoway, and grand-daughter of the gentleman of the same name who commanded and brought to Poolewe, with the intention of joining the standard of Prince Charles, the three hundred men ordered back to the Lewis, as already mentioned, by Seaforth, in 1745. By her Major Forbes Mackenzie had issue - (1) Nicolson, a surgeon in the army, who was wrecked near Pictou, Nova Scotia, and there drowned in his noble attempts to save the lives of others, in 1853, unmarried; (2) Roderick, heir of entail to the estate of Foveran, and a Colonel in the Royal Artillery, who, in 1878, married Caroline Sophia, daughter of J. A. Beamont of Wimbledon Park; (3) Thomas, a Major in the 78th Highlanders, Ross-shire now retired, and still unmarried; (4) Mary, who married the late Rev. John Kennedy, D.D., Free Church minister of Dingwall, with issue - Jessie, unmarried, and Mary, who married John Matheson, banker, Madras, only surviving son of the late Rev. Duncan Matheson, late Free Church minister of Gairloch with issue. Mrs Kennedy died at Strathpeffer in 1892. (5) Dorothy Blair, who died unmarried; and (6) Catherine Eunice, who married the late Adam Alexander Duncan of Naughton, county of Fife, with issue - Catherine Henrietta Adamina.
4. Anne, who married Hector Mackenzie, a Bailie of Dingwall ("Baillidh Eachainn"), to whom Alexander Campbell, the Gaelic bard, composed the beautiful elegy published in 1893 in the "Scottish Highlander." He was the second son of Alexander Mackenzie of Tollie, Provost of Dingwall (third son of Charles Mackenzie, I. of Letterewe), by his second wife, Catherine, daughter of Bayne of Delny, and younger half brother of Alexander Mackenzie, I. of Portmore. By his wife, Bailie Hector had issue, Alexander, whose daughter, Katherine, in 1836, married Major Roderick Mackenzie, H.E.I.C.S., and VII. of Kincraig, with issue.
5. Mary, who married Captain John Mackenzie, VI. of Kincraig, whose descendants, from her, now represent the Mackenzies of Redcastle.
6. Johanna, who married Dr Millar, Stornoway.
7. Una, who died unmarried.
8. Beatrice, who married Peter Hay, a Bailie of Dingwall.
9. Isabella, who died unmarried, and
10. Jean, who married the Rev. Colin Mackenzie, Stornoway.
Rev. Colin Mackenzie was succeeded by his eldest son,
II. RODERICK MACKENZIE, second of Glack. He married first,
Margaret, daughter of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, X. of Gairloch,
Baronet, without issue, and secondly, Christina, daughter of John
Niven, Peebles, with issue -
1. Harry, who died unmarried, in 1828.
2. John, who succeeded as III. of Glack.
3. Roderick of Thornton, Aberdeenshire, who died unmarried, in 1858.
4. James, a Major in the 72nd Highlanders, who died unmarried in India, in 1857.
5. Mary, who married the late General Sir Alexander Leith, K.C.B., of Freefield and Glenkindie, without issue.
6. Rachael, who died unmarried.
7. Christina of Foveran, who died unmarried.
8. Jane Forbes Unice, who also died unmarried.
Roderick was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
III. JOHN MACKENZIE, third of Glack. He was born in 1810, succeeded his father in 1842, inherited his brother Roderick's estate in 1857, and Foveran, on her death, from his sister Christina. He acquired Inveramsay by purchase. He died. unmarried, in 1877, when he was succeeded by his cousin, the second son of his uncle, the Rev. Donald, minister of Fodderty,
IV. JOHN MACKENZIE, fourth of Glack. He was born on the 21st of
March, 1795, and married first, in 1817, at Malta, Anne, daughter
of Thomas MacGill, without issue; and secondly, on the 21st of
October, 1822, Margaret Campbell, daughter of John Pendrill, M.D.,
Bath, with issue -
1. The Rev. Duncan Campbell, rector of Shephall, Hertfordshire, his heir.
2. John Pendrill, M.A. of Oxford, who was born on the 7th of February, 1825, and married first, on the 20th of October, 1859, Lucy Adelaide, daughter of Henry Thornton, with issue - Lucy Eleanor and Margaret Pendrill. She died in 1870, and he married, secondly, on the 25th of July, 1878, Caroline Maria, daughter of J. H. Wottur of Hamburg.
3. The Rev. Roderick Bain, M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford, Rector of Ludbrooke, county of Lincoln. He was born on the 14th of September, 1834, and married on the 10th of November, 1868, Josepha Peyton, eldest daughter of Colonel Richard Ignatius Robertson of Portland Place, London, without issue.
4. Margaret Campbell Pendrill, and
5. Mary, both unmarried.
His second wife died at Sorrento, Naples, on the 7th of June, 1855.
He is succeeded as representative of the family by his eldest son,
V. THE REV. DUNCAN CAMPBELL MACKENZIE, Vicar of Shephall, Herts, who was born on the 6th of January, 1824, and married on the 31st of January, 1854, Louisa, daughter of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls, of Chichester, with issue -
1. Donald, an officer in the Marines.
2. Allan, an officer in the Ross-shire Militia.
3. Malcolm; 4, Helen; 5, Edith; 6, Lilian; and 7, Amy.
THE MACKENZIES OF LOGGIE.
THE representative of this family, if alive, would succeed to the Chiefship after the male representative of the family of Glack, but there is no trace of any heir male of Loggie for two centuries. Before the Chiefship could come into this family, the descendants of Kenneth of Inverinate, third son of John Mackenzie of Brea, and immediate younger brother of Alexander, XI. of Hilton would have to be disposed of. Thomas, the eldest son of Inverinate, succeeded in terms of a disposition by John Mackenzie, VII. of Applecross, and in right of his mother, to the Applecross estates, but not to the male representation of that family. But the last male representative of this family failed, a few years ago, in the person of his third and last surviving son, Thomas Mackenzie, W.S., Edinburgh, who died unmarried. It will be remembered that Allan Mackenzie, II. of Hilton and Loggie, married a daughter of Alexander Dunbar of Conzie and Kilbuyack, third son of the Sheriff of Moray, with issue - (1) Murdoch, who succeeded as III. of Hilton, and (2) John, who was served heir to and afterwards designated,
I. JOHN MACKENZIE, first of Loggie, a barony situated in the old parish of that name, but now forming the western portion of the modern parish of Urquhart. John married a daughter of John Glassich Mackenzie, II. of Gairloch, with issue, one son, who succeeded him as
II. ALLAN MACKENZIE, second of Loggie. He married a daughter of Hector, sixth son of Murdoch Mackenzie, III. of Achilty, with issue -
1. Donald, his heir and successor.
2. Murdoch, who was married and left one daughter, Margaret, who in 1634 married Murdoch Mackenzie, I. of Little Findon, third son of Alexander Mackenzie, II. of Killichrist, with issue - a son, John, who succeeded his father. Allan was succeeded by his eldest son,
III. DONALD MACKENZIE, third of Loggie, who married first, in 1636, Catherine, daughter of Murdoch Mackenzie, II. of Redcastle, with issue -
1. Colin, a doctor of medicine, educated at the University of Aberdeen, and afterwards under the most celebrated professors of the day at Leyden, Paris, and Rheims, at the last-named of which he took his degree of M.D. He adopted extravagant theological views, in consequence of which "and his immoral conduct in his youth" he was disinherited by his father, whereupon he re-visited the Continent and remained there for several years. He subsequently returned to Inverness, where he practised his profession with considerable success, and had a yearly pension settled upon him by his father, until his death there, unmarried, in 1708.
Donald married, secondly, Annabella, eldest daughter of Alexander
Mackenzie, V. of Gairloch, with issue -
2. Alexander, who succeeded his father.
3. John, who was educated for the ministry at the University of Aberdeen, and was for several years Chaplain to Major-General Mackay's Regiment. After the Revolution he was appointed minister of Kirkliston, near Edinburgh, but soon removed to London, where he died unmarried, before his brother Alexander, and was buried in St. Martin's Church, Westminster.
4. Murdoch, who succeeded as V. of Loggie.
5. Margaret, who married first, in 1663, Roderick Mackenzie, V. of Fairburn, with issue, and secondly, the Rev. Hector Mackenzie of Bishop-Kinkell, second son of Kenneth Mackenzie, VI. of Gairloch, with issue.
6. Christian, who married John Mackenzie, I. of Gruinard, with issue, and
7. Annabella, who married Mackenzie of Loggie in Lochbroom, with issue.
He married, thirdly, Anne, daughter of the Rev. Donald Morison, minister in the Lewis (sasine to her in 1666), with issue - an only daughter, Anne, who married the Rev. Angus Morison, minister of Contin. Donald had also a natural son, Roderick, a Captain in the Confederate army under King William, who died in Holland, unmarried.
He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
IV. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, fourth of Loggie, who married first, in 1667, Jane, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, J. of Ballone, widow of Simon, second son of the Hon. Simon Mackenzie of Lochslinn, without issue. He married, secondly, Catherine, second daughter of William Mackenzie, I. of Belmaduthy, also without issue.
He was succeeded by his youngest brother,
V. MURDOCH MACKENZIE, fifth of Loggie, who was educated at the University of Aberdeen. He afterwards joined the Earl of Dumbarton's Regiment, and by his merit and valour soon raised himself to the rank of Captain. It is said of him that, at the battle of Sedgmoor, fought on the 6th of February, 1685, during Monmouth's rebellion, "the valiant Colonel Murdoch Mackenzie, under the command of Lord Feversham, signally distinguished himself." He at the head of his Company attacked the enemy on that occasion with such bravery and resolution that, excepting the officers, there were only nine men who were not either killed or wounded. Personally he had the distinguished honour of taking the Duke of Monmouth's standard, twisting it out of the standard-bearer's hand, and afterwards presenting it to James II. at Whitehall. For this gallant exploit he was promoted at once to the rank of Colonel. He married an English lady, with issue -
1. Murdoch, his heir.
2. George, a young man of promising parts, who was killed in a duel, unmarried; and three daughters of whom nothing has been ascertained.
Murdoch died in London, was buried in St. Martin's Church,
Westminster, and succeeded by his eldest son,
VI. MURDOCH MACKENZIE, who settled in London, and of whose representatives nothing whatever is known.
THE MACKENZIES OF GAIRLOCH.
THIS family is descended from Alexander Mackenzie, VI. of Kintail, by his second wife Margaret, daughter of Roderick Macdonald, III. of Moydart and Clanranald, the famous "Ruairidh MacAlain," by Margaret, daughter of Donald Balloch of Islay, son of John Mor Tanastair (by his wife Marjory Bisset, heiress of the Seven Lordships of the Glens in Antrim), second son of John, first Lord of the Isles, by his wife Lady Margaret Stewart, daughter of King Robert II. and brother of Donald, second Lord of the Isles and first Earl of Ross. [For Alexander, VI. of Kintail's first and second wives see pp. 81-83.] By this lady the sixth Baron of Kintail had one son -
I. HECTOR ROY MACKENZIE, better known among his countrymen as "Eachainn Ruadh." He has been already noticed at considerable length at pp. 113 to 132 in his capacity as Tutor or Guardian to his nephew, John of Killin, IX. of Kintail, but he played such a prominent part in the history of his time that it will be necessary to give his history at much greater length under this head. It has been conclusively shown that Kenneth a' Bhlair, VII. of Kintail, died in 1491, and that his only son by his first wife, Kenneth Og, killed in the Torwood by the Laird of Buchanan in 1497, outlived his father and became one of the Barons of Kintail, although there is no record of his having been served heir to the family estates. It has been said that Duncan of Hilton, Kenneth a Bhlair's eldest brother, predeceased him, and that consequently Hector Roy succeeded, as a matter of course to the legal guardianship of his nephew, Kenneth Og, VIII. of Kintail, he being the eldest surviving brother of the late Chief, who died in 1491. But this has not been sufficiently established, although it is quite true that Duncan's name does not appear after his brother's death in 1491, in any of the manuscript histories of the clan, or in any known official document. The author of the Ardintoul MS. states distinctly that Duncan was dead, and that Hector, John of Kuhn's younger uncle, "meddled with the estate." The Earl of Cromarty says that "Hector Roy, being a man of courage and prudence, was left Tutor by his brother to Sir Kenneth, his own brother-uterine, Duncan being of better hands than head. This Hector, hearing of Sir Kenneth's death, and finding himself in possession of an estate, to which those only now had title whose birthright was debateable, namely, the children begot by Kenneth the third, on the Lord Lovat's daughter, with whom he did at first so irregularly and unlawfully cohabit." The objection of illegitimacy could not apply to Duncan, or to his son Allan, and it is difficult to understand on what ground Hector attempted to obtain personal possession of the estates, unless it be true, as confirmed to some extent hereafter, that he was himself joint-heir of Kintail; for it is undoubted that Allan, Duncan's eldest son, who was entitled to succeed before Hector, was then alive. There is no official evidence that Hector Roy was at any time appointed Tutor to John of Kuhn until an arrangement was made between themselves, in terms of which Hector was to act as such, and to keep the estates in his own bands until his nephew came of age.
There is no doubt that Hector was in possession of extensive estates of his own at this period. When the Lords of the Association, a factious party of the nobility, took up arms against James III., Alexander of Kintail despatched his sons, Kenneth and Hector, with a retinue of 500, to join the Royal standard; but Kenneth, hearing of the death of his father on his arrival at Perth, returned home at the request of the Earl of Huntly; and the clan was led by Hector Roy to the battle of Sauchieburn, near Stirling but after the defeat of the Royal forces, and the death there in 1488 of the King himself, Hector, who narrowly escaped, returned to Ross-shire and took the stronghold of Redcastle, then held for the rebels by Rose of Kilravock, and placed a garrison in it. He then joined the Earl of Huntly and the clans in the north who were rising to avenge the death of His Majesty but meanwhile orders came from the youthful King James IV., who had been at the head of the conspirators, ordering the Northern chiefs to lay down their arms, and to submit to the powers that be. Thereupon Hector, yielding to necessity, submitted with the rest, and he was "not only received with favour, but to reward his previous fidelity and also to engage him for the future the young King, who at last saw his error, and wanted to reconcile to him those who had been the friends of his father, made him a present of the Barony of Gairloch in the western circuit of Ross-shire by knight-service after the manner of that age. He likewise gave him Brahan in the Low Country, now a seat of the family of Seaforth, the lands of Moy in that neighbourhood, Glassletter (of Kintail), a Royal forest which was made a part of the Barony of Gairloch. In the pleasant valley of Strathpeffer, Castle Leod, part of Hector's paternal estate, afterwards a seat of the Earl of Cromarty; Achterneed near adjacent, also Kinellan, were likewise his, and so was the Barony of Allan, now Allangrange, a few miles southwards. In the Chops of the Highlands he had Fairburn the Wester, and both the Scatwells, the great and the lesser. Westward in the height of that country he had Kenlochewe, a district adjoining Gairloch on the east, and southward on the same track he had the half of Kintail, of which he was left joint-heir with his brother Kenneth, chief of the family." [Manuscript history of the Gairloch family. Another MS. says that Hector's possessions in Kintail were "bounded by the rivers Kilillan and Cro."]
The original Gairloch charters are lost, but a "protocol" from John de Vaux, or Vass, Sheriff of Inverness, whose jurisdiction at that time extended to Ross and the other Northern counties, is conclusive as to their having existed. This document, its orthography modernised, is in the following terms:
To all and sundry to whom it effeirs to whose knowledge these present letters shall come, John de Vaux, burgess of Dingwall and Sheriff in this part, sends greeting in God everlasting, to you universally I make it known that by the commands of our Sovereign Lords Letters and "precess" under his white wax directed to me as Sheriff in that part, and grants me to have given to Hector MacKennich heritable state and possession of all and sundry the lands of Gairloch, with their pertinents, after the form and tenour of our Sovereign Lord's charter made to the foresaid Hector thereupon, the which lands with their pertinents extends yearly to twelve merks of old extent, lying between the waters called Inverewe and Torridon within the Sheriffdom of Inverness, and I grant me to have given to the foresaid Hector heritable state and possession of all and sundry the foresaid lands with their pertinents, saving other men's rights as use and custom is, and charge in our Sovereign Lord's name, and mine as Sheriff, that no man vex, unquiet, or trouble the said Hector nor his heirs in the peaceable brooking and enjoyment of the lands foresaid under all pain and charges that after may follow: In witness of the which I have appended to these my letters of sasine my seal at "Allydyll" (? Talladale) in Gairloch, the 10th day of the month of December, the year of God, 1494, before these witnesses - Sir Dougall Ruryson, Vicar of Urquhart, Murchy Beg Mac Murchy, John Thomasson, Kenneth Mac-anleyson, Donald Mac-anleyson, Dugald Ruryson, and Duncan Lachlanson servant, with others divers.
The next authentic document in Hector's favour is a precept by the King to the Chamberlain of Ross commanding that functionary to obey a former precept granted to Hector of the mails, etc., of Brahan and Moy, in the following terms:
Chamberlain of Ross we greet you well - Forasmuch as we directed our special letters of before, making mention that we have given to our lovite Hector Roy Mackenzie the mails and profits of our lands of Brahan and Moy, with arriage, carriage, and other pertinents thereof, lying within our lordship of Ross for his good and thankful service done and to be done to us, enduring our will, and that it was our will that he should brook and enjoy the said lands with all the profits thereof enduring our will, and so the tenants now inhabitants thereof brook their tacks and not remove therefrom, the which letters, as, we are surely informed, you disobeyed in great contemption and littling of our authority Royal; Herefor we charge you now as of before that ye suffer the said Hector to brook and enjoy the same lands and take up and have all mails, fermes, profits, arriage, carriage, and due service of the said lands, and that the tenants and inhahitants thereof to answer and obey to him and to none others till, we give command by our special letters in the contrary, and this on no wise you leave undone, as you will incur our indignation and displeasure. These our letters seen and understood, deliver them again to the bearer to be kept and shown by the said Hector upon account of your warrant before our Comptroller and auditors of our Exchequer at your next accounting, and after the form of our said letters past of before given under our Signet, at Edinburgh, the 5th day of March, 1508, and of our reign the twentieth year.
JAMES R.
It will be seen from these documents that Hector had at this time large possessions of his own; and the dispute between him and his nephew, John of Killin, already fully described, probably arose in respect of Hector's rights to the half of Kintail, which his father is said to have left him jointly with his eldest brother, Kenneth, VII. of Kintail. Hector kept possession of Ellandonnan Castle until compelled by an order from the Privy Council to give it up in 1511 to John of Killin, and it appears from the records of the Privy Council that from 1501 to 1508 Hector continued to collect the rents of Kintail without giving any account of them; that he again in 1509 accounted for them for twelve months, and for the two succeeding years for the second time retained them, while he seems to have had undisturbed possession of the stronghold of Ellandonnan throughout. No record can be found of his answer to the summons commanding him to appear before the Privy Council, if he ever did put in an appearance, but in all probability he merely kept his hold of that Castle in order to compel his nephew to come to terms with him regarding his joint rights to Kintail, without any intention of ultimately keeping him out of possession. This view is strengthened by the fact that John obtained a charter under the Great Seal granting him Kintail anew on the 25th of February, 1508-9 [Reg. of the Great Seal, vol. xv, fol. 89.] - the same year in which Hector received a grant of Brahan and Moy - probably following on an arrangement of their respective rights in those districts also from the fact that Hector does not appear to have fallen into any disfavour with the Crown on account of his conduct towards John of Kintail; for only two years after Kuhn raised the action against Hector before the Privy Council, the latter receives a new charter, dated the 8th April, 1513, [The original charter is in the Gairloch Charter Chest.] under the Great Seal, of Gairloch, Glasletter, and Coirre-nan-Cuilean "in feu and heritage for ever," and he and his nephew appear ever after to have lived on the most friendly terms.
Gairloch, originally the possession of the Earls of Ross, and confirmed to them by Robert Bruce in 1306 and 1329 was subsequently granted by Earl William to Paul MacTire and his heirs by Mary Graham, for a yearly payment of a penny of silver in the name of blench ferme in lieu of every other service except the foreign service of the King when required. In 1372 Robert the II. confirmed the grant. In 1430 James I. granted to Nele Nelesoun (Neil son of Neil Macleod) for his homage and service in the capture of his deceased brother, Thomas Nelesoun, a rebel, the lands of Gairloch. ["Origines Parochiales Scotiae," vol. ii, p. 406]
Although Hector was in possession of Crown charters to at least two-thirds of the lands of Gairloch he found it very difficult to secure possession of them from the Macleods and their chief, Allan MacRory, the former proprietors. This Allan had married, as his first wife, a daughter of Alexander, VI. of Kintail, and sister of Hector Roy, with issue - three sons. He married, secondly, a daughter of Roderick Macleod, VII. of Lewis, with issue - one son, Roderick, subsequently known as Ruairidh Mac Alain, author of an atrocious massacre of the Macleods of Raasay and Gairloch at Island Isay, Waternish, Isle of Skye, erroneously attributed in the first edition of this work to his grandfather, the above-named Roderick Macleod of Lewis. Allan of Gairloch was himself related to the Macleods of Lewis, but it is impossible to trace the exact connection. Two brothers of Macleod of Lewis are said, traditionally, to have resolved that no Mackenzie blood should flow in the veins of the future head of the Gairloch Macleods, and determined to put Allan's children by Hector Roy's sister to death, so that his son by their own niece should succeed to Gairloch, and they proceeded across the Minch to the mainland to put their murderous intent into execution.
Allan MacRuairidh, the then Macleod laird of Gairloch, was personally a peacefully disposed man, and lived at the "Crannag," of which traces are still to be found on Loch Tolly Island, along with his second wife, two of his sons by the first marriage, and a daughter. The brothers, having reached Gairloch, took up their abode at the old "Tigh Dige," a wattled house, surrounded by a ditch, whose site is still pointed out in one of the Flowerdale parks, a few hundred yards above the stone bridge which crosses the Ceann-an-t-Sail river at the head of Gairloch Bay. Next day the murderous barbarians crossed over to Loch Tolly. On the way they learnt that Allan was not then on the island, he having gone a-fishing on the Ewe. They at once proceeded in that direction, found him sound asleep on the banks of the river, at "Cnoc na Mi-chomhairle," and without any warning "made him short by the head." Then retracing their steps, and ferrying across to the island where Allan's wife, with two of her three step-children were enjoying themselves, they, in the most cold-blooded manner, informed her of her husband's fate, tore the two boys - the third being fortunately absent - from her knees, took them ashore, and carried them along to a small glen through which the Poolewe Road now passes, about a mile to the south of the loch, and there, at a spot still called "Creag Bhadain an Aisc," the Rock at the place of Burial, stabbed them to the heart with their daggers, and carried their bloodstained shirts along with them to the Tigh Dige. These shirts the stepmother ultimately secured through the strategy of one of her husband's retainers, who at once proceeded with them to the boys' grandfather, Alexander Mackenzie, VI. of Kintail, at Kinellan or Brahan. Hector Roy started immediately, carrying the bloodstained shirts along with him as evidence of the atrocious deed, to report the murder to the King at Edinburgh. His Majesty on hearing of the crime granted Hector a commission of fire and sword against the murderers of his nephews, and gave him a Crown charter to the lands of Gairloch in his own favour dated 1494. The assassins were soon afterwards slain at a hollow still pointed out between Porthenderson and South Erradale, nearly opposite the northern end of the Island of Raasay, where their graves are yet to be seen, quite fresh and green, among the surrounding heather. [Mackenzie's "History of the Macleods," pp. 342, 343.]
One of the family historians says that this was the first step that Hector Roy got to Gairloch. His brother-in-law, Allan Macleod, gave him the custody of their rights, but when he found his nephews were murdered, he took a new gift of it to himself, and going to Gairloch with a number of Kintail men and others, he took a heirschip with him, but such as were alive of the Siol 'ille Challum of Gairloch, followed him and fought him at a place called Glasleoid, but they being beat Hector carried away the heirschip. After this and several other skirmishes they were content to allow him the two-thirds of Gairloch, providing he would let themselves possess the other third in peace, which he did, and they kept possession till Hector's great-grandchild put them from it." [Ancient MS.]
The Earl of Cromarty, and other MS. historians of the family fully corroborate this. The Earl says that Hector, incited to revenge by the foul murder of his nephews, made some attempts to oust the Macleods from Gairloch during John of Killin's minority, but was not willing to engage in war with such a powerful chief as Macleod of Lewis, while he felt himself insecure in his other possessions, but after arranging matters amicably with his nephew of Kintail, and now being master of a fortune and possessions suitable to his mind and quality, he resolved to avenge the murder and to "make it productive of his own advantage." He summoned all those who were accessory to the assassination of his sister's children before the Chief Justice. Their well grounded fears made them absent themselves from Court. Hector produced the bloody shirts of the murdered boys, whereupon the murderers were declared fugitives and outlaws, and a commission granted in his favour for their pursuit, "which he did so resolutely manage that in a short time he killed many, preserved some to justice, and forced the remainder to a composition advantageous to himself. His successors, who were both active and prudent men, did thereafter acquire the rest from their unthrifty neighbours." The greatest defeat that Hector ever gave to the Macleods "was at Bealach Glasleoid, near Kintail, where most of them were taken or killed." At this fight Duncan Mor na Tuaighe, who so signally distinguished himself at Blar-na-Pairc, was present with Hector, and on being told that four men were together attacking his son Dugal, he indifferently replied, "Well, if he be my son there is no hazard for that," a remark which turned out quite true, for the hero killed the four Macleods, and came off himself without any serious wounds. [Duncan in his old days was very assisting to Hector, Gairloch's predecessor, against the Macleods of Gairloch, for he, with his son Dugal, who was a strong, prudent, and courageous man, with ten or twelve other Kintailmen, were alwise, upon the least advertisement, ready to go and assist Hector, whenever, wherever, and in whatever he had to do, for which cause there has been a friendly correspondence betwixt the family of Gairloch and the MacRas of Kintail, which still continues." - "Genealogy of the MacRas."]
The massacre of Island Isay followed a considerable time after this, and its object was very much the same as the murder of Loch Tolly, although carried out by a different assassin. Ruairidh "Nimhneach" Macleod, son of Allan "Mac Ruairdh" of Gairloch, and nephew of the Loch Tolly assassins, determined not only to remove the children of John Mor na Tuaighe, brother of Alexander Macleod, II. of Raasay, by Janet Mackenzie of Kintail, but also to destroy the direct line of the Macleods of Raasay, and thus open up the succession to John na Tuaighe's son by his second wife, Roderick Nimhneach's sister, and failing him, to Roderick's own son Allan. By this connection it would, he thought, be easier for him to attain repossession of the lands of Gairloch, from which his family was driven by the Mackenzies.
Roderick's name appears as "Rory Mac Allan, alias Nevymnauch," in a decree-arbitral by the Regent Earl of Murray between Donald Macdonald, V. of Sleat, and Colin Mackenzie, XI. of Kintail, dated at Perth, the 1st of August, 1569, in terms of which Macdonald becomes responsible for Roderick and undertakes that he and his kin shall "desist and cease troubling, molesting, harming or invasion of the said Laird of Gairloch's lands and rowmes, possessions, tenants, servants, and goods, while on the other hand Kintail shall see to it that Torquil Cononach shall cease to do the same in all respects to Macdonald's lands." In 1586 Roderick is described as "of Lochgair," but another person is named in the same document as "Macleud, heritor of the lands of Gairloch," which proves that Roderick Nimhneach was not the actual proprietor of even the small portion of that district which was still left to his family. He was the second son, and one of the objects of the massacre on Island Isay was to cut off his father's only surviving son and heir by his first wife - a daughter of Mackenzie of Kintail - who escaped the previous massacre on the Island of Loch Tolly.
With the view of cutting off the legitimate male representation of his own Macleod relatives of Gairloch and of Raasay, he invited all the members of both families, and most of them accepted the invitation. Roderick on their arrival feasted them sumptuously at a great banquet. In the middle of the festivities he informed them of his desire to have each man's advice separately, and that he would after-wards make known to them the important business which had to be considered, and which closely concerned each of them. He then retired into a separate apartment, and called them in one by one, when they were each, as they entered, stabbed with dirks through the body by a set of murderous savages whom he had engaged and posted inside the room for the purpose. Not one of the family of Raasay was left alive, except a boy nine years of age, who was being fostered from home, and who had been sent privately by his foster-father, when the news of the massacre became known, to the laird of Calder, who kept him in safety during his minority. He afterwards obtained possession of Raasay, and became known as Gillecallum Garbh MacGillechallum. Macleod of Gairloch's sons, by Hector Roy's sister, were all murdered. Roderick took his own nephew to the room where, walking with his brutal relative, he heard one of his half-brothers cry on being stabbed by the assassin's dirk, and saying "Yon's my brother's cry." "Hold your peace," Rory replied, "yonder cry is to make you laird of Gairloch; he is the son of one of Mackenzie's daughters." The boy, fearing that his own life might be sacrificed, held his tongue, "but afterwards he did what in him lay in revenging the cruel death of his brothers and kinsmen on the murtherers." [Ancient MS.]
In acknowledgment of the King's favour, Hector gathered his followers in the west, joined his nephew, John of Killin, with his vassals, and fought, in command of the clan, at the disastrous battle of Flodden, from which both narrowly escaped but most of their followers were slain. Some time after his return home he successfully fought the desperate skirmish at Druim-a-chait, already referred to, pp. 114-118, with 140 men against 700 of the Munros, Dingwalls, MacCullochs, and other clans under the command of William Munro of Fowlis, on which occasion Sheriff Vass of Lochslinn was killed at a bush near Dingwall, "called to this day Preas Sandy Vass," or Alex. Vass's bush, a name assigned to it for that very cause. [Gairloch MS.]
Hector, during his life, granted to his nephew, John of Killin, his own half of Kintail, the lands of Kinellan, Fairburn, Wester Brahan, and other possessions situated in the Low Country, which brought his son John Glassich afterwards into trouble. [Gairloch MS.]
Hector Roy was betrothed to a daughter of the Laird of Grant - probably Sir Duncan, who flourished from 1434 to 1485 - but she died before the marriage was solemnised. He, however, had a son by her called Hector Cam, he being blind of an eye, to whom he gave Achterneed and Culte Leod, now Castle Leod, as his patrimony. Hector Cam married a daughter of Mackay of Farr, ancestor of Lord Reay, by whom he had two sons Alexander Roy and Murdo. ["These were both succeeded by the son of Alexander, a slothful man, who dotingly bestowed his estate on his foster child. Sir Roderick Mackenzie of Coigeach, in detriment to his own children, though very deserving of them, Captain Hector Mackenzie, late of Dumbarton's Regiment, and also a tribe in the Eastern circuit of Ross, surnamed, from one of their progenitors, Mac Eanin, i.e., the descendants of John the Fair." - "Gairloch MS." Another MS. gives the additional names of - "Richard Mackenzie, vintner in Edinburgh, grandson of Alexander Mackenzie of Calder, Midlothian; Duncan Mackenzie, an eminent gunsmith in London; and James Mackenzie, gunsmith in Dundee." It also adds that of the successors of the Mac Eanins in Easter Ross, were "Master Alexander Mackenzie, an Episcopal minister in Edinburgh; and preceptor to the children of the present noble family of Cromarty, whose son is Charles Mackenzie, clerk to Mr David Munro of Meikle Allan."] Alexander married a daughter of John Mor na Tuaighe MacGillechallum, a brother of Macleod of Raasay, by whom she had a son, Hector, who lived at Kinellan, and was nicknamed the Bishop. This Hector married a daughter of Macleod of Raasay, and left a large family, one of the daughters being afterwards married to Murdo Mackenzie, V. of Achilty, without issue. Hector Cam's second son, Murdo, married a daughter of Murdoch Buy Matheson of Lochalsh, with issue - Lachlan, known as "Lachlainn Mac Mhurchaidh Mhic Eachainn," who married a daughter of Murdoch Mackenzie, III. of Achilty, with issue - Murdoch, who married a daughter of Alexander Ross of Cuilich and Alastair, who married a daughter of William MacCulloch of Park.
Hector Roy, after the death of Grant of Grant's daughter, married his cousin Anne, daughter of Ranald MacRanald, generally known as Ranald Ban Macdonald, V. of Moydart and Clanranald. Her brother Dougal was assassinated and his sons formally excluded from the succession, when the estate and command of the clan were given to his nephew Alexander, "portioner," of Moydart, whose son, John Moydartach afterwards succeeded and became the famous Captain of Clanranald Gregory says, however, that "Allan, the eldest son of Dougal, and the undoubted heir male of Clanranald, acquired the estate of Morar, which he transmitted to his descendants. He and his successors were always styled 'MacDhughail Mhorair,' that is MacDougal of Morar, from their ancestor Dougal MacRanald." This quite explains the various designations by which these Moydart and Clanranald ladies who had married into the Gairloch family have been handed down to us. Anne was the widow of William Dubh Macleod, VII. of Harris, Dunvegan, and Glenelg, by whom she had an only daughter, who, by Hector Roy's influence at Court, was married to Rory Mor of Achaghluineachan, ancestor of the Mackenzies of Fairburn and Achilty, after she bad by her future husband a natural son, Murdoch, who became progenitor of the family of Fairburn. By this marriage with Anne of Moydart and Clanranald Hector Roy had issue -
1. John Glassich, his heir and successor.
2. Kenneth of Meikle Allan, now Allangrange, who married a daughter of Alexander Dunbar of Kilbuyack, and widow of Allan Mackenzie, II. of Hilton, with issue - (1) Hector, who married an Assynt lady, with issue - Hector Og, who was killed at Raasay, in 1611, unmarried; and three daughters, the eldest of whom married, as her second husband, John, son of Alastair Roy, natural son of John Glassich, with issue - Bishop Murdoch Mackenzie of Moray and Orkney, and several other sons. Hector's second daughter married "Tormod Mac Ean Lleaye" - Norman, son of John Liath Macrae - who, according to the traditions of the country, took such a prominent part against the Macleods at that period - and a brother of the celebrated archers Domhull Odhar and lain Odhar mic Ian Leith, of whose prowess the reader will learn more presently. The third daughter married Duncan, son of John, son of Alastair Roy, son of John Glassich, II. of Gairloch. (2) Angus, who married, with issue - Kenneth, who left an only daughter, who married her cousin, Murdo Mac Ian, son of Alastair Roy.
3. John Tuach of Davochpollo, who married with issue - a son, John, who died without lawful issue.
4. Dougal Roy, who inherited Scatwell, and was killed in a family feud in 1550, and
Three daughters, who married respectively, Bayne of Tulloch, John Aberach Mackay, and Hugh Bayne Fraser of Bunchrew, a natural son of Thomas, fourth Lord Lovat, killed at Blar-na-Leine, ancestor of the Frasers of Reelick.
He had also a son, John Beg, who was according to some authorities illegitimate, from whom descended several Mackenzies who settled in Berwick and Alloa.
Hector Roy died in 1528. On the 8th of September in that year, a grant is recorded to Sir John Dingwall, "Provost of Trinity College, beside Edinburgh, of the ward of the lands of Gairloch, which pertained to the umquhile Achinroy Mackenzie." He was succeeded by his eldest lawful son,
II. JOHN GLASSICH MACKENZIE, who, from the above quoted document, appears to have been a minor at his father's death. His retour of service cannot be found, but an instrument of sasine, dated the 24th of June, 1536, in his favour, is in the Gairloch charter chest, wherein he is designated "John Hector-son," and in which he is said to be the heir, served and retoured, of his father, Hector Roy Mackenzie, in the lands of Gairloch, and the grazings of Glasletter and Coirre-nan-Cuilean. He is said to have objected to his father's liberality during his life in granting, at the expense of his successors, to his nephew, John of Kuhn, so much of his patrimonial possessions. According to the Gairloch MS. already quoted Hector gave him his own half of Kintail, as well as Kinellan, Fairburn, Wester Brahan, and "other possessions in the Low Country besides." John thought these donations far too exorbitant, and he "sought to retrench them by recovering in part what with so much profusion his father had given away, and for that, a feud having ensued betwixt him and his Chief, he was surprised in his house by night, according to the barbarous manner of the times, and sent prisoner to Iland Downan, and there taken away by poison in A.D. l550. His brother Dugal, who sided with him, and John (Beg), his natural brother, were both slain in the same quarrel." [Gairloch MS. Another MS. says that his other brother, John Tuach, was assassinated the same night.]
A bond, dated 1544, has been preserved, to which John Glassich's name, along with others, is adhibited, undertaking to keep the peace, and promising obedience to Kenneth, younger of Kintail (Kenneth na Cuirc), as the Queen's Lieutenant. [Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. iv. p.213.] John's obedience does not appear, however, to have been very complete. Kintail having, according to another authority, received information of John Glassich's intention to recover if possible part of the property given away by his father, sent for him to Brahan, where he went, accompanied by a single attendant, John Gearr. The chief charged him with these designs against him, and John's denials proving unsatisfactory, Kintail caused him to be apprehended. John Gearr, seeing this, and feeling that his master had been treacherously dealt with, drew his two handed sword and made a fierce onslaught on the chief who sat at the head of the table, but smartly bowed his head under it, or it would have been cloven asunder. John Gearr was instantly seized by Mackenzie's guards, who threatened to tear him to pieces, but the chief, admiring his fidelity, charged them not to touch him. John Gearr, on being questioned why he had struck at Mackenzie and took no notice of those who apprehended his master, boldly replied that he "saw no one else present whose life was a worthy exchange for that of his own chief." John's sword made a deep gash in the table, and the mark, which was deep enough to admit of a hand being placed edgeways in it, remained until Colin, first Earl of Seaforth, caused the piece to be cut off, saying that "he loved no such remembrance of the quarrels of his relations."
John Glassich, it would appear, was not unduly circumspect at home, or a very dutiful and loyal subject to his King. In 1547 his estate was forfeited for refusing to join the Royal Standard, and the escheat thereof granted to the Earl of Sutherland, as will be seen by the following letter in favour of that nobleman:
"A letter made to John, Earl of Sutherland, his heirs, assigns, one or more, the gift of all goods moveable and unmoveable, debts, tacks, steadings, corns, and obligations, sums of money, gold, silver, coined and uncoined, and other goods whatsoever which pertained to John Hectors - son of Gairloch, and now pertaining to our Sovereign Lady by reason of escheat through the said John's remaining and biding at home from the 'oist' and army devised to convene at Peebles, the 10th day of July instant, for recovering of the house of Langholm furth of our enemies' hands of England, in contrary to the tenour of the letters and proclamations made thereupon, incurred therethrough the pains contained thereuntil, or any otherwise shall happen to pertain to us our Sovereign by reason foresaid with power, etc. At Saint Andrews the 23rd day of July, the year of God, 1547 years." [Reg. Sec. Sig., xxi. fol. 316.]
There is no trace of the reversal of this forfeiture. It does not, however, appear to have affected the succession. Indeed it is not likely that it even affected the actual possession, for it was not easy even for the Earl of Sutherland, though supported by the Royal authority to wield any real power in such an out-of-the-way region in those days as John Glassich's possessions in the west. It has been already stated that, in 1551, the Queen granted to John Mackenzie, IX. of Kintail, and his heir, Kenneth na Cuirc, a remission for the violent taking of John Glassich, Dougal, and John Tuach, his brothers, and for keeping them in prison, thus usurping "therethrough our Sovereign Lady's authority." None of them is spoken of in this remission as being then deceased, though tradition and the family MS. history have it that John Glassich was poisoned or starved to death at Ellandonnan Castle in 1550. [One of the family MSS. says that by his marriage "he got the lands of Kinkell, Kilbokie, Badinearb, Pitlundie, Davochcairn, Davochpollo, and Foynish, with others in the Low Country, for which the family has been in the use to quarter the arm of Fraser with their own. This John, becoming considerably rich and powerful by those different acquisitions, became too odious to and envied by John, Laird of Mackenzie, and his son Kenneth then married to Stewart, Earl of Atholes daughter, that they set upon him, having previously invited him to a Christmas dinner, having got no other pretence than a fit of jealousy on account of the said Earl's daughter, bound him with ropes and carried him a prisoner to Islandownan, where his death was occasioned by poison administered to him in a mess of milk soup by one MacCalman, a clergyman and Deputy-Constable of the Fort."] It is, however, probable that Kintail considered it wise to conceal John's death until the remission had been already secured. Only six weeks after the date of the "respitt" John Glassich is referred to in the Privy Council Records, under date of 25th July, 1551, as the "omquhile (or late) John McCanze of Gairlocht," his lands having then been given in ward to the Earl of Athole, "Ay and till the lawful entry of the righteous heir or heirs thereto, being of lawful age." [Reg. Sec. Con., vol. xxiv., fol. 84.]
Although Hector obtained a charter of the lands of Gairloch in 1494, the Macleods continued for a time to hold possession of a considerable part of it. According to the traditions of the district they had all to the east and south-east of the Crasg, a hill situated on the west side of the churchyard of Gairloch, between the present Free and Established Churches. At the east end of the Big Sand, on a high and easily defended rock, stood the last stronghold occupied by the Macleods in Gairloch - to this day known as the "Dun" or Fort. The foundation is still easily traced. It must have been a place of consider-able importance, for it is over 200 feet in circumference. Various localities are still pointed out in Gairloch where desperate skirmishes were fought between the Macleods and the Mackenzies. Several of these spots, where the slain were buried, look quite green to this day. The "Fraoch Eilean," opposite Leac-na-Saighid, where a naval engagement was fought, is a veritable cemetery of Macleods, ample evidence of which is yet to be seen. Of this engagement, and of those at Glasleoid, Lochan-an-Fheidh, Leac-na-Saighid, Kirkton, and many others, thrilling accounts are still recited by a few old men in the district; especially of the prowess of Domh'ull Odhar Mac Ian Leith, and the other Kintail heroes who were mainly instrumental in establishing the Mackenzies of Gairloch permanently and in undisputed possession of their beautiful and romantic inheritance.
John Glassich married Janet Agnes, daughter of James Fraser of
Phoineas, brother of Hugh, sixth Lord Lovat (with whom he got the
Barony of Inchlag, etc.), with issue -
1. Hector, his heir and successor.
2. Alexander, who succeeded his brother Hector.
3. John, who succeeded Alexander.
4. A daughter, who married John Mackenzie, II. of Loggie, with issue.
John Glassich's widow married, secondly, Thomas Chisholm, XV. of
Chisholm, without issue male.
He had also two natural sons before his marriage, Alexander Roy and Hector Caol.
Alexander Roy had a son John, who lived at Coirre Mhic Cromaill in Torridon, and who had a son, the Rev. Murdoch Mackenzie, Chaplain to Lord Reay's Regiment in the Bohemian and Swedish service, under Gustavus Adolphus. He was afterwards minister of Contin, Inverness, and Elgin, and subsequently Bishop of Moray and of Orkney in succession. His family and descendants are dealt with under a separate heading - MACKENZIES OF GROUNDWATER.
Hector Caol left a numerous tribe in Gairloch, still known as Clann Eachainn Chaoil, and said to be distinguished by their long and slender legs.
John Glassich, who was assassinated in 1550, as already stated, at Ellandonnan Castle, was buried in the Priory of Beauly, and succeeded by his eldest lawful son,
III. HECTOR MACKENZIE. He has a sasine, dated the 6th May, 1563, [Gairloch Charter Chest,] in which he is described as "Achyne Johannis MacAchyne," and bearing that the lands had been in non-entry for 12 years, thus carrying back the date of his succession to 1551, when the estate was given in ward to John, fourth of the Stewart Earls of Athole. Hector died - probably killed, like his brother - without issue, on the 3rd of September, 1566, and was buried at Beauly, when he was succeeded by his next lawful brother,
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, who has a retour, dated the 2nd of December, 1566, [Ing. Retour Reg., vol. i., fol. 22, and "Origines Parochiales Scotiae,"] as heir to "Hector his brother-german," in the lands of Gairloch, namely, "Gairloch, Kirktoun, Syldage, Hamgildail, Malefage, Innerasfidill, Sandecorran, Cryf, Baddichro, Bein-Sanderis, Meall, Allawdall, with the pasturage of Glaslettir and Cornagullan, in the Earldom of Ross, of the old extent of L8;" but not to any of the other lands which Hector Roy left to his descendants. Alexander did not long possess the estates, for he died - to all appearance assassinated - a few weeks after he succeeded, without making up titles. It is, therefore, not thought necessary to count him as one of the Barons of Gairloch.
It is probable that the brothers, Hector and Alexander, met with the same violent death as their father and uncles, John Glassich, John Tuach, and John Beg and by the same authors. This is according to tradition, and an old MS., which says that their mother Agnes Fraser fled with John Roy "to Lovat and her Fraser relatives," adds as to the fate of his brothers that "In those days many acts of oppression were committed that could not be brought to fair tryales befor the Legislator." "She was afterwards married to Chisholm of Comar, and heired his family; here she kept him in as concealed a manner as possible, and, as is reported, every night under a brewing kettle, those who, through the barbarity of the times, destroyed his father and uncles, being in search of the son, and in possession of his all excepting his mother's dower. He was afterwards concealed by the Lairds of Moydart and of Farr, till he became a handsome man and could put on his weapon, when he had the resolution to wait on Colin Cam Mackenzie, Laird of Kintail, a most worthy gentleman, who established him in all his lands, excepting those parts of the family estate for which Hector and his successors had an undoubted right by writs." Hector was succeeded by his next brother,
IV. JOHN ROY MACKENZIE, John Glassich's third son, who was at the time a minor, although his father had been dead for 15 or 16 years; and the estate was given in ward by Queen Mary in 1567. She "granted in heritage to John Bannerman of Cardeyne, the ward of the lands and rents belonging to the deceased Hector Makkenych, of Gairloch, with the relief of the same when it should occur and the marriage of John Roy Makkenych, the brotherand apparent heir of Hector." ["Origines Parochiales Scotiae" p. 406, and Reg. Sec. Sig., vol. xxxvi. fol. 6.] In 1569, John, being then of "lauchful age," is served and retoured heir to his brother-german, Hector, in the lands of Gairloch [Ing. Retour Reg., vol. i., fol. 22, and "Origines Parochiales Scotiae."] as specified in the service of 1566, passing over Alexander, no doubt because he never made up titles. This retour of 1569 gives the date of Hector's death as 30th September, 1566. In 1574 John has a sasine which bears that the lands had been seven and a half years in non-entry, taking it back to the date of Hector's death, three months before the gift of the ward to John Bannerman. He, in the same year, acquired half the lands of Ardnagrask from Lord Lovat, partly in exchange for the rights he inherited in Phoineas from his mother, and he is described by his Lordship in the disposition as "the son, by her first husband, of his kinswoman Agnes Fraser." From this it may be assumed that John Glassich's widow had during her life made over her own rights to her son or that she had in the meantime died.
It is found from the old inventory, already quoted, that there was a charter of alienation by Hugh Fraser of Guisachan, dated the 29th of May, 1582, from which it appears that John Roy in 1574, acquired Davochcairn and Davochpollo, in Strathpeffer, from this Hugh Fraser, and that in the first-named year he obtained from him also the lands of Kinkell-Clarsach and Pitlundie, in terms of a contract of sale dated the 26th of January, 1581. The charter is confirmed by James VI. in 1523. It appears from his daughter's retour of service [Ing. Retours Reg., vol. viii., fol. 284b.] that Gairloch's eldest son, John, died in 1601. He had been infeft by his father in Davochpollo and Pitlundie, and married Isabel, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie II. of Fairburn, by whom he had a daughter, also named Isabel, who married Colin Mackenzie of Strathgarve, brother to Kenneth, first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, and first of the Mackenzies of Kinnock and Pitlundie. Colin of Strathgarve entered into a lawsuit with Alexander V. of Gairloch, probably in connection with this marriage, "to cut him out of his Low Country estate." ["Colin of Kinnock, who entered a lawsuit against Alexander Mackenzie of Gairloch, meaning to cut him out of his low country estates, and being powerfully supported by Mackenzie of Fairburn and Mr John Mackenzie of Tolly, minister of Dingwall, a plodding clergyman, kept him sixteen sessions at Edinburgh; the last year of which Gairloch and his brother Kenneth seeing Lord Kintail insulted by the Earl of Glencairn, who was supported by most of those on the street, put on their armour and came directly to his assistance, and rescuing him from imminent danger brought him to their lodging. No sooner was the tumult over than they embraced very cordially, and the whole matter in debate was instantly taken away, aud Gairloch got a present of 600 merks to finish the Tower of Kinkell, of which his father (John Roy) only built three storeys." - "Gairloch MS."] In 1657 she mortgaged Davochpollo and Pitlundie to her cousin, Kenneth VI. of Gairloch; and her successor, John Mackenzie of Pitlundie, completed the sale to him, which brought the property back again to the Gairloch family. [Papers in the Gairloch Charter Chest.]
Under date of 11th August, 1587, the following complaint by James Sinclair, Master of Caithness, and James Paxtoun, his servant, against John Mackenzie of Gairloch appears in the Records of the Privy Council - While they "were in a peaceable and quiet manner," in March last, in the Chanonry of Ross, within the house of William Robson, the following persons, viz.: John Mackenzie of Gairloch, Hector Mackenzie in Fairburn, Meikle John Mackenzie, his son, Thomas MacThomais Mac Keanoch's son, Donald Macintagairt, Mr John Mackenzie, son of Murdo Mackenzie of Fairburn, Mr Murdo Mackenzie, parson of Lochcarron, Duncan Mackenzie, John Beg Mackenzie's son, Duncan MacCulloch of Achanault, David Aytoun, master stabler to Colin Mackenzie of Kintail, Finlay Roy, Stewart to the said Colin, William Barbour, burgess in the Chanonry, with convocation of the lieges, to the number of 300, "bodin in feir of weir," and hounded on by the said John Mackenzie of Gairloch, "had come to the said William Robson's house, wherein the said complainers were, and had without any occasion of offence, assegeit the said house and used all means and engines for apprehending of the said James Sinclair and his said servant." Further, "seeing they could not goodly recover the said house," they "cried for fire, and had not failed most treasonably to have risen fire within the same had not the said complainer delivered the said James Paxton in their bands, whom they immediately conveyed and led to the castle of Chanonry pertaining to the said Colin, and kept and detained him captive therein for the space of two hours or thereby." After such detention of the said James "they granted liberty to him to pass home, and the better to cloak their cruel and unmerciful decree, which openly they durst not put to execution, they secretly hounded out a great number of cut-throats to have beset the same James's way and to have bereft him of his life, which they not failed to have done had not God otherwise prevented their doings." Moreover, "at that same time they reft and took away from the said complainers their horses, saddles, and other gear worth five hundred merks." John Mackenzie of Gairloch, master and landlord of the foresaid persons, having been charged to appear personally and enter them this day "to have answered and underlaid punishment for the premises," according to the general band, but making no such appearance or entry, while the complainers appear personally, the Lords order the said Mackenzie of Gairloch to be denounced rebel.
In 1606 John Roy received a charter of resignation in favour of himself in life-rent, and of his son, Alexander in fee, erecting Gairloch into a free barony and in 1619 he obtained another charter, [These charters are in the Gairloch Charter Chest.] under the Great Seal, by which Kinkell is included in the barony and constituted its chief messuage. He built the first three stories of the Tower of Kinkell, "where his arms and those of his first wife are parted per pale above the mantelpiece of the great hall." [Gairloch MS.]
The son of Roderick MacAllan "Nimhneach" of Gairloch, in the absence of young MacGillechallum Garbh of Raasay, who, under the care of the Laird of Calder escaped the massacre of Island Isay, possessed himself of Raasay and took up his quarters in Castle Brochail, the ancient residence of the Chiefs of Macleod, of which the ruins are still to be seen on the east side of the island. Seeing this, Donald Mac Neill, who previously sent young Macleod of Raasay to the protection of Calder brought back the rightful heir, and kept him, in private, until an opportunity occurred by which he could obtain possession of the castle. This he soon managed by coming to terms with the commander of the stronghold, who preferred the native heir to his relative of the Gairloch Macleods. It was arranged that when Mac Neill should arrive at the castle with his charge, access should be given to young Raasay. The commander kept his word, and MacGillechallum Garbh was soon after proclaimed laird.
In 1610 a severe skirmish was fought at Lochan-an-Fheidh, in Glen Torridon, between the Mackenzies - led by Alexander, since his brother's death in 1601, the apparent heir of Gairloch - and the Macleods under John MacAllan Mhic Rory, then the only surviving direct male representative of Allan Macleod of Gairloch and grandson probably of Rory Nimhneach. John Tolmach, John's uncle was also present, but he succeeded in effecting his escape, while John MacAllan and seventeen or eighteen of his followers were taken prisoners. Many more were killed and a few who escaped alive with John Tolmach were pursued out of the district. The slain were buried where they fell, and the graves can still be seen, the nettles which continue to grow over them at the present day indicating the position of the last resting-place on the field of battle of these Macleod warriors, on the west side of the Sgura Dubh, above Glen Torridon, a little beyond the Gairloch estate march.
Shortly after this engagement another attempt was made by the Macleods to regain the lands of Gairloch, the history of which is still a prominent and interesting feature in the local traditions of the parish. The affair is called "Latha Leac-na-Saighead." Mr John H. Dixon gives a good version of it, as related to him by Roderick Mackenzie, locally known as Ruairidh an Torra - an intelligent man of about ninety who only died two years ago - in his interesting book on the history and traditions of the parish of Gairloch. According to Roderick's version, as given by Mr Dixon, many of the Macleods, after they had been driven from Gairloch, settled in Skye. A considerable number of the younger men were invited by their chief to pass Hogmanay night in the Castle of Dunvegan. In the kitchen there was an old woman known as Mor Bhan, who was usually occupied in carding wool, and generally supposed to be a witch. After dinner the men began to drink, and when they had passed some time in this occupation, they sent to the kitchen for Mor Bhan. She at once joined them in the hall, and having drunk one or two glasses along with them, she remarked that it was a very poor thing for the Macleods to be deprived of their own lands in Gairloch, and to have to live in comparative poverty in Raasay and the Isle of Skye. "But," she said to them, "prepare yourselves and start to-morrow for Gairloch, sail in the black birlinn, and you shall regain it. I shall be a witness of your success when you return."
The men trusted her, believing she had the power of divination. In the morning they set sail for Gairloch - the black galley was full of the Macleods. It was evening when they entered the loch. They were afraid to land on the mainland, for they remembered that the descendants of Domhnull Greannach (a celebrated Macrae) were still there, and they knew the prowess of these men only too well. The Macleods therefore turned to the south side of the loch, and fastened their birlinn to the Fraoch Eilean, in the well-sheltered bay opposite Leac-nan-Saighead, between Shieldaig and Badachro. Here they decided to wait until morning, then disembark, and walk round the head of the loch.
But all their movements had been well and carefully watched. Domhnull Odhar Mac lain Leith and his brother Ian, the celebrated Macrae archers, recognised the birlinn of the Macleods, and determined to oppose their landing. They walked round the head of the loch by Shieldaig and posted themselves before daylight behind the Leac, a projecting rock overlooking the Fraoch Eilean. The steps on which they stood at the back of the rock are still pointed out. Donald Odhar, being of small stature, took the higher of the two ledges, and Ian took the lower. Standing on these they crouched down behind the rock, completely sheltered from the enemy, but commanding a full view of the island, while they were quite invisible to the Macleods, who lay down on the island. As soon as the day dawned the two Macraes directed their arrows on the strangers, of whom a number were killed before their comrades were even aware of the direction from which the messengers of death came. The Macleods endeavoured to answer their arrows, but not being able to see the foe, their efforts were of no effect. In the heat of the fight one of the Macleods climbed up the mast of the birlinn to discover the position of the enemy. Ian Odhar observing this, took deadly aim at him when near the top of the mast. "Oh," says Donald, addressing John, "you have sent a pin through his broth." The slaughter continued, and the remnant of the Macleods hurried aboard their birlinn. Cutting the rope, they turned her head seawards. By this time only two of their number were left alive. In their hurry to escape they left all the bodies of their slain companions unburied on the island. A rumour of the arrival of the Macleods had during the night spread through the district, and other warriors, such as Fionnla Dubh na Saighead, and Fear Shieldaig, were soon at the scene of action, but all they had to do on their arrival was to assist in the burial of the dead Macleods. Pits were dug, into each of which a number of the bodies were thrown, and mounds were raised over them which remain to this day, as any one landing on the island may observe.