History of the Mackenzies Part 2

Saint Maelrubba, who is first heard of in Britain in 671, two years later, in 673, founded the original Church of Applecross "from which as a centre he evangelised the whole of the western districts lying between Loch Carron and Loch Broom, as well as the south and west parts of the Island of Skye, and planted churches in Easter Ross and elsewhere." ['Celtic Scotland,' Vol. II. p. 166.] It is at least interesting to find these lands going to and afterwards remaining in possession of the two sons of Earl Alexander who are said to have been illegitimate, when all their other enormous possessions were in 1493 finally forfeited to the Crown. Hugh, who possessed Sleat during the life of his father and brother, receives a Crown charter of these lands under the Great Seal two years after, in 1495, although his brother John, fourth and last Lord of the Isles, was still alive, his death not having occurred until 1498, three years later.

Sir Robert Gordon ('Earldom of Scotland,' p. 36) shows that the Rosses were originally designated O'Beolan and Gillanders indiscriminately, according to the writer's or speaker's fancy.

He says that -

"From the second son of the Earl of Ross the lairds of Balnagowan are descended, and had by inheritance the lands of Rariechies and Coulleigh, where you may observe that the laird of Balnagowan's surname should not be Ross, seeing that there was never any Earl of Ross of that surname; but the Earls of Ross were first of the surname of Beolan, then they were Leslies, and last of all that earldom fell by inheritance to the Lords of the Isles, who resigned the same unto king James the Third's bands, in the year of G.o.d 1477. So I do think that the lairds of Balnagowan, perceiving the Earls of Ross decayed, and that earldom, fallen into the Lords of the Isles' hands, they called themselves Ross thereby to testify their descent from the Earls of Ross. Besides, all the Rosses in that province are Unto this day called in the Irish (Gaelic) language Clan Leandries, which race by their own tradition is sprung from another stock."

In the same work, p. 46, we find that the Earls of Ross were called O'Beolans as late as 1333, for Sir Robert informs us, writing of the battle of Halidon Hill, that "in this field was Hugh Beolan, Earl of Ross, slain."

It is established to the satisfaction of all reasonable men that the Applecross and O'Beolan Earls of Ross were one and the same, and that they were descended from Gilleoin na h' Airde, corrupted in the Norse Sagas into "Beolan," the general designation by which they were known, until Earl William, the last of his line, died without surviving male issue on the 9th of February, 1372, when the t.i.tle devolved upon his daughter, Euphemia, Countess of Ross in her own right, whose daughter, Mary, or Margaret, by Sir Walter Leslie, carried the earldom to Donald of Harlaw, second Lord of the Isles.

That the O'Beolan Earls of Ross, of whom Ferquhard Mac an t'Sagairt was the first, descended from the same ancestor, Gilleoin na h' Airde, as the older "Gillandres" earl of 1160, is equally certain. Earl Gillandres as probably forfeited for the part he took against Malcolm IV. on that occasion, and Ferquhard having rendered such important services to Alexander II. was restored probably quite as much in virtue of his ancient rights as the grandson of Ferquhard as on account of his valiant conduct in support of the crown in Moray, in Argyle, and in Galloway, in 1215, 1222, and 1235.

The surname Ross has in early times been invariably rendered in Gaelic as Gilleanrias, or Gillanders, and the Rosses appear under this appellation in all the early Acts of Parliament. There is also an unvarying tradition that on the death of the last Earl of the O'Beolan line a certain Paul Mac Tire was for some years head of the Rosses, and this tradition is corroborated by the fact that there is a charter on record by Earl William of the lands of Gairloch in 1366 in favour of Paul Mac Tire and his heirs by Mary Graham, in which the Earl styles Mac Tire his cousin. This grant was confirmed by King Robert II. in 1372. In the ma.n.u.script of 1467 the genealogy of Clann Gille-Anrias, or the descendants of Gillean-Ard-Rois, begins with a Paul Mac Tire. The clan whose genealogy is there given is undoubtedly that of the Rosses, and in the ma.n.u.script they are traced upwards from Paul MacTire in a direct line to Gilleon na h'Airde, the "Beolan" of the Norse Sagas, who lived in the tenth century, and who will be shown to be also the remote progenitor of the Mackenzies. The Aird referred to is said to be the Aird of Ross.

In the ma.n.u.script of 1467 the name Gille-Anrias appears in the genealogies of both the Mackenzies and the Rosses exactly contemporaneous with the generation which preceded the original grant to "Ferchair Mac an t'Sagairt" of the Earldom of Ross. The name Gille-Anrias has been rendered as the Gaelic equivalent for Servant of Andrew, or St. Andrew, and that, according to Skene, would seem to indicate that the first of that name, if not a priest himself, must have belonged to the priestly house of Appercrossan or Applecross, of which Earl Farquhar ultimately became the head.

The dates exactly correspond; and when, in addition to this, it is remembered that of the earls who besieged Malcolm IV. at Perth in 1160 one was named "Gillandres" it seems fully established that Ferchard Mac an t'Sagairt was descended from the original earls and that he was ent.i.tled to the earldom by ancient right on the failure or forfeiture of the direct representative of the old line, as well as by a new creation. Although there may have been one or two usurpers - a common event in those turbulent times - Ferquhard was undoubtedly a near relative and the legitimate successor of the Celtic "Gillandres" earl of 1160. He is described in the 'Chronicle of Melrose' as "Comes Rossensis Machentagard," and in Dalrymple's Annals of Scotland as "Mc Kentagar," a designation which the author describes in a footnote as "an unintelligible word," though its meaning is perfectly plain to every Gaelic-speaking Celt.

Ferquhard founded the Abbey of Fearn, in Easter Ross, about 1230, and died there in 1251.

Referring to his position during the first half of the thirteenth century even the Earl of Cromartie is forced to admit in his MS., a copy of which we possess, that "it cannot be disputed that the Earl of Ross was the Lord paramount under Alexander II., by whom Farquhard Mac an t'Sagairt was recognised in the hereditary dignity of his predecessors, and who, by another tradition, was a real progenitor of the n.o.ble family of Kintail." And this was said and written by an author, who, in another part of the same ma.n.u.script, stoutly maintains that the king granted these identical lands to Colin Fitzgerald by a charter which, if it was ever signed at all, must have been signed a full generation before the date which the forged doc.u.ment bears - thirty years after the witnesses whose names attest it had gone to their last home.

THE O'BEOLAN EARLS OF ROSS.

It must now be most interesting to every member of the Clan Mackenzie to know who these O'Beolan Earls of Ross were and all that can be ascertained regarding themselves and their family alliances.

Leaving out Earl Gillanders, of whom so little is known, let us begin with

I. FERQUHARD, OR FARQUHAR O'BEOLAN, "Mac an t'Sagairt,"

who, as already stated, founded the Abbey of Fearn, and died there in 1251. By his wife, whose name has not come down to us, he had issue, at least,

1. William, his heir and successor.

2. Malcolm, of whose life nothing is known.

3. Euphemia, who married Walter de Moravia, Lord of Duffus from 1224 to 1262.

4. Christina, who married Olave the Red, King of Man, with issue.

Farquhar was succeeded by his eldest son,

II. WILLIAM O'BEOLAN, EARL OF ROSS. He obtained Skye and Lewis from Alexander III. and died at Earles Allane in 1274. He married Joan daughter of the first Red Comyn, who died in 1273, and sister of John, the Black Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Earl of Buchan, who married Marjory, sister of King John Baliol, with issue - the Red Comyn, who was killed by Robert the Bruce in the Church of Dumfries in 1306. Another sister of the Countess of Ross was married to John Macdougall, Lord of Lorn, on record in 1251, usually styled "King Eoin or Ewin." By his wife Earl William had issue -

1. William, his heir and successor.

2. Dorothea, who married her cousin, Torquil Macleod II. of Lewis, with issue.

He was succeeded by his only son,

III. WILLIAM O'BEOLAN, EARL OF ROSS, who fought alternately with Edward I. and Robert the Bruce, and was imprisoned in London 1296-97. In 1306 he delivered up to the English King, Robert Bruce's Queen, Isabella, his daughter Marjory, his sister Mary, the brave Countess of Buchan, and other ladies of distinction, who bad for a time found shelter and protection in the Sanctuary of St. Duthus, at Tain, from the English oppressors of their country.

In 1309 he obtained a new grant of his lands. By his wife, one of the Grahams of Montrose, he had issue -

1. Hugh, his heir and successor.

2. Sir John, who married his second cousin, Margaret, daughter of Alexander, Earl of Buchan.

3. Isabella, who married Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick, brother of King Robert the Bruce.

4. A daughter who, as her second husband, married Malise, Earl of Stratherne, with issue - four daughters, the eldest of whom married William St. Clair, Baron of Roslin, whose son Henry afterwards succeeded in right of his mother to the earldom of Stratherne.

He died at Delny, in Easter Ross, in 1323, and was succeeded by his eldest son, IV. HUGH O'BEOLAN, EARL OF ROSS. He received charters, of Strathgla.s.s and of the Isle of Skye. He married first, in 1308, Maud or Matilda, sister of King Robert the Bruce, with issue -

1. William, his heir and successor.

2. Hugh Ross of Rarichies, from whom the Old Rosses of Balnagown, of whom the last representative in the male line was the late George Ross of Pitcalnie. This Hugh obtained the lands of Philorth in Aberdeen-shire, and between 1362 and 1372 he exchanged them with his brother, Earl Hugh, for the lands of North Argyle, including the Castle of Ellandonnan. The territories exchanged included Strathgla.s.s, Kintail, and other lands in Wester Ross.

3. Janet, who married, first, Monimusk of Monimusk and, secondly, Sir Alexander Murray of Abercairny.

4. Euphemia or Eupham, who married, first, Randolph, Earl of Moray, who was killed at the battle of Durham, and secondly, her cousin, King Robert II., grandson of Robert the Bruce and first of the Stuart dynasty. This marriage being within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity a special dispensation was obtained from Pope Innocent VI. for its celebration in 1355. She died in 1372.

Earl Hugh married, secondly, also by dispensation from the Pope, in 1329, Margaret, daughter of Sir David de Graham.

The Earl was killed at the battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, V. WILLIAM O'BEOLAN, EARL OF ROSS AND LORD OF SKYE, banished to Norway for some serious offence, but in 1336 he is found in actual possession of the earldom. He was afterwards Justiciar of Scotland, and in a charter of 1374 he is designated "frater Regis," or the King's brother, no doubt from the fact that his sister Euphemla was the wife of Robert II. He rebuilt the Abbey of Fearn, and married his cousin Isobel, daughter of Malise, Earl of Stratherne, Orkney, and Caithness, with issue -

1. William, who died before his father

2. Euphemia, who became Countess of Ross in her own right on the death of her father.

3. Johanna, who, in 1375, married Sir Alexander Fraser, Lord of Cowie and Durris, ancestor of the Frasers of Philorth and Pitsligo, now represented by Lord Saltoun. Johanna first carried the lands of Philorth to that family. She has a charter in 1370.

William died on the 9th of February, 1372, without surviving male issue, when he was succeeded by his eldest daughter,

VI. EUPHEMIA O'BEOLAN, COUNTESS OF ROSS in her own right.

She married first, by dispensation, dated 1367, Sir Walter Leslie, son of Sir Andrew Leslie, who in right of his wife became Earl of Ross. They have a charter of the earldom of Ross and of the lands of Skye dated 1370, two years before Earl William's death, in their own favour and that of their heirs male and female in reversion.

Her first husband predeceased her in 1382, whereupon she married, secondly, Alexander, Earl of Buchan, better known in history as "The Wolf of Badenoch." He died, without issue, in 1394. She died Abbess of Elcho in 1398, and was buried in Fortrose Cathredral. By Sir Walter Leslie she had issue -

1. Sir Alexander Leslie, who became Earl of Ross in right of his mother.

2. Margaret Leslie, who married Donald, second Lord of the Isles, who in her right, after fighting the battle of Harlaw, succeeded to the earldom of Ross, and carried it to a new family, the Macdonald Lords of the isles.

When the Countess Euphemia died, in 1398, she was succeeded by her only son,

VII. SIR ALEXANDER LESLIE, EARL OF ROSS, who married Isabella, daughter of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, Governor of Scotland, and by her had issue an only daughter, Lady Euphemia, or Mary, who became a nun, and resigned the earldom in favour of her maternal uncle, John, Earl of Buchan. Donald, Lord of the Isles, who married her father's sister, Margaret, disputed Euphemia's right to put the earldom past her aunt, and the battle of Harlaw was fought in 1411 to decide the issue, which, as already stated, turned, so far as the possession of the great earldom was concerned, in favour of the Lord of the Isles, since known as Donald of Harlaw. From this point the history of the earldom falls properly to be dealt with and is given at length in 'The History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles.'

But thus far it cannot fail to be extremely interesting to all the members of the clan Mackenzie, whether they believe in the Gillanders and O'Beolans or in the Fitzgeralds as the progenitors of the race; for in any case the clan was in its earlier annals closely allied with the O'Beolan Earls of Ross by descent and marriage.

It has been established that Gillanders and O'Beolan were the names of the ancient and original Earls of Ross, and they continued to be represented in the male line by the Old Rosses of Balnagowan down to the end of the eighteenth century, when the last heir male of that family, finding that the entail ended with himself, sold the estates to General Ross, brother of Lord Ross of Hawkhead, who, although possessing the same name, was of a different family and origin. It will, it is believed, be now admitted with equal certainty that the Rosses and the Mackenzies are descended from the same progenitor, Beolan or Gilleoin na h'Airde, the undoubted common ancestor of the old Earls of Ross, the Gillanders, and the Rosses. The various steps in the earliest portion of the genealogy connecting the Mackenzies with the common ancestor will be given with the same detail as that of the Rosses, and it will be stated with sufficient accuracy to justify the conclusions at which, in common with Dr Skene and all the best authorities on the subject, we have arrived. The genealogy of the Clan Andres or Rosses in the ma.n.u.script of 1467, is as follows:

"Pol ic Tire, ic Eogan, ic Muiredaigh, ic Poil, ic Gilleanrias, ic Martain, ic Poil, ic Cainig, ic Cranin, ic Eogan, ic Cainic, ic Cranin, McGilleoin na h'Airde, ic Eirc, ic Loirn, ic Fearchar, Mc Cormac, ic Abertaig, ic Feradaig."

Dr Skene's translation -