History of the Mackenzies Part 3

"Paul son of Tire, son of Ewen, son of Murdoch, son of Paul, son of Gillanrias, son of Martin, son of Paul, son of Kenneth, son of Crinan, son of Ewen, son of Kenneth, son of Crinan, son of Gilleoin of the Aird, son of Erc, son of Lorn, son of Ferchar, son of Cormac, son of Oirbeirtaigh, son of Feradach."

The Mackenzie genealogy in the same MS. is -

"Muiread ic Cainig, Mc Eoin, ic Cainig, ic Aengusa, ic Cristin, ic Agam, Mc Gilleoin Qig, ic Gilleon na h'Aird."

Skene's translation follows -

"Murdoch son of Kenneth, son of John, son of Kenneth, son of Angus, son of Cristin, son of Adam, son of Gilleoin Og, son of Gilleoin of the Aird."

Skene makes an important correction on this genealogy in his later work, 'Celtic Scotland,' Vol. III., p. 485, by subst.i.tuting Cainig - Kenneth, for Agam - Adam, in his original reading. In this form the genealogy of 1467 corresponds exactly, so far as it goes, with that given by MacVuirich in the Black Book of Clanra.n.a.ld.

In 1222 "Gilchrist filius Kinedi," Gillecriosd son of Kenneth, is on record as a follower of MacWilliam. Cristean is the ordinary Gaelic form of Christopher, otherwise Gilchrist, or Gillecriosd.

There is thus no doubt that the "Cristin" of the Gaelic genealogy is the same name as Gillecriosd, Gilchrist, and Christopher.

In the MacVuirich ma.n.u.script, however, several names are given between Gilleoin Og and Gilleoin na h'Airde which are absent from the ma.n.u.script of 1467; for while we have thirteen generations in the Clan Anrias or Ross genealogy in the latter between Paul Mac Tire and Gilleoin of the Aird, we have only eight in the Mackenzie genealogy between Murdoch of the Cave, who was contemporary with Mac Tire, and their common ancestor Gilleoin of the Aird, or Beolan. In the MacVuirich ma.n.u.script there are fifteen generations, translated thus -

"Murdoch son of Kenneth, son of John, son of Kenneth, son of Angus 'crom,' or the hump-backed, son of Kenneth, son of Gilleoin Og, son of Gilleoin Mor, or the Great, son of Murdoch, son of Duncan, son of Murdoch, son of Duncan, son of Murdoch, son of Kenneth, son of Cristin, or Christopher, son of Gilleoin of the Aird."

The genealogies of the three families as brought out by these ma.n.u.scripts, are shown in the following table:--

GILLEOIN OF THE AIRD.

| +------------------------------+------------------+ |CLAN ANRIAS. | MACKENZIES. | +------------------------------+------------------+ | Crinan | Cristin | | Kenneth | Kenneth | | Ewen | Murdoch | | Crinan | Duncan | | Kenneth | Murdoch | | Paul | Duncan | | Martin | Murdoch | | Gillanrias | Gilleoin Mor | +---------|--------------------| Gilleoin Og | | | Kenneth | +-------------------+------------------+ | Angus Crom | | EARLS OF ROSS | ROSSES | | Kenneth | +-------------------+------------------+ | John | | The Priest-"An | Paul | | Kenneth | | Sagart" | Murdoch | | Murdoch of the | | I. Ferquhard "Mac | Ewen | | Cave who died | | an t'Sagairt" | Tire | | in 1375 | | II. William | Paul Mac Tire | +------------------+ | III. William | who has a | | IV. Hugh | charter of the | | V. William who | lands of | | died in 1372 | Garloch from | | | the Earl of | | | Ross in 1366, | | | confirmed in | | | 1372. | +-------------------+------------------+

There would seem to be no doubt that "Tire" or Tyre, stands here and elsewhere for "An t'Oighre," or the Heir, and Paul "Mac Tire"

for Pol " Mac-an-Oighre," or Son of the Heir. It will be observed that Colin does not appear once in these early genealogies, and it has been already pointed out that no trace of it is found anywhere as a family name until the middle of the sixteenth century, when it was introduced by the marriage of one of the Mackenzie chiefs to a daughter of the Earl of Atholl, whose mother was Lady Mary Campbell, and who, calling her second son after her own uncle Colin, third Earl of Argyll, for the first time brought that name into the family genealogy of Kintail.

It will also be seen as we proceed, although the Earls of Ross were superiors of the lands of Kintail as part of the earldom, and that it was therefore impossible that Colin Fitzgerald or any other person than those earls could have had a gift of it from the Crown, that the Mackenzies occupied the lands and the castle, not as immediate va.s.sals; of the King, but of their own near relatives, the O'Beolan Earls of Ross and their successors, for at least two hundred years before the Mackenzies received a grant of it for themselves direct from the Crown. This is proved beyond dispute by genuine historical doc.u.ments. Until within a few years of the final forfeiture of the Lords of the Isles in 1476, the Mackenzies undoubtedly held their lands, first from the O'Beolan Earls and subsequently from the Island Lords as Earls of Ross; for the first direct Crown charter to any chief of Kintail of which we have authentic record, is one dated the 7th of January, 1463, in favour of Alexander "Ionraic," the sixth Baron.

To show the intimate relations which existed between the original Earls of Ross and the ancestor of the Mackenzies, a quotation may be given from a ma.n.u.script history of the clan written by Dr George Mackenzie, nephew of Kenneth Mor, third Earl of Seaforth, in the seventeenth century. Although he is a supporter of the Fitzgerald origin, he is forced to say that, "at the same time (1267) William, Earl of Ross, laying a claim of superiority over the Western Isles, thought this a fit opportunity to seize the Castle of Ellandonnan. He sent a messenger to his Kintail men to send their young chieftain to him as being his nearest kinsman by marriage with his aunt." He then goes on to say, that Kenneth, not Colin, was joined by the MacIvers, Macaulays, MacBeolans, and Clan Tarlichs, "the ancient inhabitants of Kintail," and refused to surrender, when "the Earl of Ross attacked them and was beaten."

Had there been no previous kinship between the two families - and no one will now attempt with any show of reason to maintain that there was not - this marriage of William, the second Earl, to Kenneth's aunt would have made the youthful Kenneth, ancestor of the Mackenzies, first cousin, on the maternal side, to William O'Beolan, the third Earl of that line, whose wife and therefore Kintail's aunt, was Joan, sister of John, the Black Comyn, Lord of Badenoch. It has further been proved to a demonstration, and it is now admitted by all the best authorities, that the O'Beolan Earls of Ross were descended from Gilleoin na h' Airde; and so are the Mackenzies, who from the first formed an integral and most important part of the ancient powerful native Gaelic tribes of which the Earls of Ross were the chiefs.

It has been shown that Kenneth, from whom the Mackenzies take their name, was closely allied by marriage with William, second Earl of Ross, the latter having married Kenneth's maternal aunt.

This fact by itself would be sufficient to establish the high position, which even at that early period, was occupied by Kenneth, who was already very closely connected with the O'Beolan Earls of Ross by blood and marriage.

Kenneth himself married Morna or Morba, daughter of Alexander Macdougall, styled, "De Ergedia," Lord of Lorn by a daughter of John, the first Red Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, who died in 1273.

Kenneth's wife was thus a sister of John, the Black Comyn, who died about 1299, having married Marjory, daughter of John Baliol, by whom he had John, the second Red Comyn, one of the compet.i.tors for the Scottish Crown, killed by Robert the Bruce in the Church of Dumfries in 1306. Kenneth's issue by Morna or Morba of Lorn was John Mackenzie, II. of Kintail, who was thus, through his mother, third In descent from John, the first Red Comyn, who died in 1273, and sixth from the great Somerled of the Isles, Thane of Argyle, progenitor of the Macdougalls of Lorn and of all the Macdonalds, who died in 1164.

John made even a more ill.u.s.trious alliance than his father, by which at that early date he introduced the Royal blood of Scotland and England into the family of Kintail. He married his relative, Margaret, sister of David, twelfth Earl of Atholl, slain in 1335, and daughter of David, the eleventh Earl, who died in 1327 (whose estates were forfeited by Edward I.), by Joan Comyn (died 1323), daughter of the Red Comyn killed by Robert the Bruce, and great granddaughter of John Baliol. Margaret's father, David, eleventh Earl of Atholl who died in 1327, was the oldest son of John de Strathbogie, tenth Earl, hanged by Edward I. Earl John's mother was the Countess Isabel de Dover, who died at a very old age in 1292, daughter of Richard Fitzroy de Chillam (died 1216), a natural son of King John of England.

Kenneth Mackenzie, III. of Kintail, the issue of this marriage, was sixth in descent from John Baliol of the Royal line of Scotland and sixth from King John of England.

The Norwegian blood of the Kings of Man was brought into the family by the marriage of this Kenneth to Finguala, daughter of Torquil Macleod, I. of Lewis, who was the grandson of Olave the Black, Norwegian King of Man, who died about 1237, by his wife Christina, daughter of Ferquhard "Mac an t'Sagairt," first O'Beolan Earl of Ross.

The Royal blood of the Bruce was introduced by the marriage of Murdoch Mackenzie, V. of Kintail, to Finguala, daughter of Malcolm Macleod, III. of Harris (who has a charter in 1343), by Martha, daughter of David, twelfth Earl of Mar, son of Gratney, eleventh Earl (whose sister Isabel married Robert the Bruce) by his wife Christina, daughter of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, and sister of King Robert the Bruce.

The Plantaganet blood-royal of England was introduced later by the marriage of Kenneth Mackenzie, X. of Kintail, to Lady Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of John, second Earl of Atholl, fourth in descent from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of Edward III., and father of Henry IV. of England, and this strain was strengthened and continued by the marriage of Kenneth's son, Colin Cam Mackenzie, XI. of Kintail, to his cousin Barbara, daughter of John Grant of Grant by Lady Marjory Stewart, daughter of John, third Earl of Atholl. It scarcely needs to be pointed out that, through these inter-marriages, the Mackenzies are also descended from the ancient Celtic MacAlpine line of Scottish Kings, from the original Anglo-Saxon Kings of England, and from the oldest Scandinavian, Charlemagne, and Capetian lines, as far back as the beginning of the ninth century.

The origin of the O'Beolan Earls of Ross and the Mackenzies from the same source is strikingly ill.u.s.trated by their inter-marriages into the same families and with each other's kindred. Both the O'Beolans and the Mackenzies made alliances with the Comyns of Badenoch, with the MacDougalls of Lorn, and subsequently with the Macleods of Lewis and Harris, thus forming a network of cousinship which ultimately included all the leading families in the Highlands, every one of which, through these alliances, have the Royal blood of all the English, Scottish, and Scandinavian Kings, and many of the earlier foreign monarchs, coursing in their veins.

Surely this is a sufficiently ancient and ill.u.s.trious origin and much more satisfactory to every patriotic clansman than an Irish adventurer like the reputed Colin Fitzgerald, who, if he ever existed, had not and never could have had any connection with the real origin of the Mackenzies, which was as purely native of the Highlands as it was possible for any Scoto-Celtic family in those days to be. The various genealogical steps and marriage alliances already referred to will be confirmed in each individual case as we proceed with the succession and history of the respective chiefs of the family, beginning with the first of the line,

I. KENNETH, OR COINNEACH,

Who gave his name to the clan. His is the fourth ascending name in the ma.n.u.script genealogy of 1467, which begins with Murdoch of the Cave. Murdoch died in 1375, and was thus almost contemporaneous with the author of the Gaelic genealogy, which, translated, proceeds up to this Kenneth as follows: Murdoch, son of Kenneth, son of John, son of Kenneth, and so on, as already given at page 39 to Gilleoin of the Aird.

At this interesting stage it may be well to explain how the name Mackenzie came to be p.r.o.nounced and written as it now is. John, the son of this Kenneth, would be called in the original native Gaelic, "Ian Mac Choinnich," John, son of Kenneth. In that form it was unp.r.o.nounceable to those unacquainted with the native tongue.

The nearest approach the foreigner could get to its correct enunciation would be Mac Coinni or Mac Kenny, which ultimately came to be spelt Mac Kenzie, Z in those days having exactly the same value and sound as the letter V; and the name, although spelt with a Z instead of a Y would be p.r.o.nounced Mac Kenny, as indeed we p.r.o.nounce in our own day, in Scotland, such names as Menzies, Macfadzean, and several others, as if they were still written with the letter Y. The two letters being thus of the same value, after a time came to be used indiscriminately in the word Kenny or Kenzie, and the letter z having subsequently acquired a different value and sound of its own, more allied to the letter S than to the original Y, the name is p.r.o.nounced as if it were written Mackensie.

Kenneth was the son and heir of Angus, the direct representative of a long line of ancestors up to Gilleoin na li'Airde, the common progenitor of the O'Beolan Earls of Ross, the Clann Ghille-Andrais, who about the end of the fourteenth century called themselves Rosses, and of the Mackenzies. The close connection by blood and marriage between the O'Beolan Earls of Ross and Kenneth's family before and after this period has been already shown, but the ancient ties of friendship had at this time become somewhat strained.

Kenneth succeeded to the government of Ellandonnan Castle, which was garrisoned by his friends and supporters, the Macraes and the Maclennans, who, even at that early date in large numbers occupied Kintail. Kenneth, in fact, was Governor of the Castle, and was otherwise becoming so powerful that his superior, the Earl, was getting very jealous of him.

At this time the first Earl William laid claim to the superiority of the Western Isles, which he and his father, Ferchair Mac an t'Sagairt; were chiefly instrumental, among the followers of Alexander III., in wresting from the Norwegians, and he was naturally desirous to have the government of Ellandonnan Castle in his own hands, or under the charge of some one less ambitious than Kenneth, and on whom he could implicitly rely. Kenneth was advancing rapidly both in power and influence among his more immediate neighbours, who were mainly composed of the ancient inhabitants of the district, the Mac Beolains, who occupied Glenshiel and the south side of Loch Duich as far as Kylerhea; the Mac Ivors, who inhabited Glen Lichd, the Cro of Kintail, and the north side of Loch Duich; while the Mac Tearlichs, now calling themselves Mac Erlichs or Charlesons, occupied Glenelchaig.

These aboriginal natives naturally supported Kenneth, who was one of themselves, against the claims of his superior, the Earl, who though a pure Highland Celt was less known in Kintail than the Governor of the Castle. This only made the Earl more determined than ever to obtain possession of the stronghold, and he peremptorily requested the garrison to surrender it and Kenneth to him at once.

The demand was promptly refused; and finding that the Governor was resolved to hold it at all hazards the Earl sent a strong detachment to take it by storm.

Kenneth was readily joined by the surrounding tribes, among whom were, along with those whose names have been already given, the brave Macaulays of Lochbroom, who were distantly related to him.

By the aid of these reinforcements Kenneth was able to withstand a desperate and gallant onset by the Earl and his followers, who were defeated and driven back with great slaughter. This exasperated the enemy so much that he soon after returned to the charge with a largely increased force, at the same time threatening the young governor with the utmost vengeance and final extirpation unless he immediately capitulated. But before the Earl was able to carry his threats into execution, be was overtaken by a severe illness of which he very soon after died, in 1274. His son, the second Earl William, did not persevere in his father's policy against Kintail, and it was not long before his attention was diverted into another channel. On the death of Alexander III., in 1286, the affairs of the nation became confused and distracted.

This was rather an advantage to Kenneth than otherwise, for, in the general disorder which followed he was able to strengthen his position among the surrounding tribes. Through a combination of native prudence, personal popularity, and a growing power and influence heightened by the eclat of his having so recently defeated the powerful Earl of Ross, he succeeded in maintaining good order in his own district, while his increasing influence was felt over most of the Western Isles.

Kenneth married Morna or Morba, daughter of Alexander Macdougall of Lorn, "de Ergedia," by a daughter of John the first Red Comyn, and sister of John the Black Comyn, Earl of Badenoch. He died in 1304 and was buried in Icolmkill, when he was succeeded by his only son,

II. JOHN MAC KENNETH, OR MAC KENZIE,

The first of the race called Mac Kenny or Mac Kenzie. Dr George Mackenzie, already quoted, says that "the name Coinneach is common to the Pictish and Scottish Gael," and that "Mackenzie, Baron of Kintail, attached himself to the fortunes of the heroic Robert the Bruce, notwithstanding MacDougall's (his father-in-law) tenacious adherence to the cause of Baliol, as is believed, in resentment for the murder of his cousin, the Red Comyn, at Dumfries"; while the Earl of Cromartie says that he "not only sided with Robert Bruce in his contest with the c.u.mins but that he was one of those who sheltered him in his lurking and a.s.sisted him in his rest.i.tution; 'for in the Isles,' says Boethius 'he had supply from a friend; and yet Donald of the Isles, who then commanded them, was on the c.u.min's side, and raised the Isles to their a.s.sistance, and was beat at Deer by Edward Bruce, anno 1308.'" All this is indeed highly probable.

After Bruce left the Island of Rachrin he was for a considerable time lost sight of, many believing that he had perished during his wanderings, from the great hardships which he necessarily endured in his ultimately successful attempts to escape the vigilant efforts and search of his enemies. That Bruce found shelter in Ellandonnan Castle and was there protected for a considerable time by the Baron of Kintail - until he found opportunity again to take the field against his enemies - has ever since been the unbroken tradition in the Highlands, and it has always been handed down from one generation to another as a proud incident in the history of the clan. The Laird of Applecross, who wrote his ma.n.u.script history of the Mackenzies in 1669, follows the earlier family historians. He says that this Baron of Kintail "did own the other party, and was one of those who sheltered the Bruce, and a.s.sisted in his recovery. I shall not say he was the only one, but this stands for that a.s.sertion that all who were considerable in the Hills and Isles were enemies to the Bruce, and so cannot be presumed to be his friends. The Earl of Ross did most unhandsomely and unhumanly apprehend his lady at Tain and delivered her to the English, anno 1305. Donald of the Isles, or Rotholl, or rather Ronald, with all the Hebrides, armed against the Bruce and were beat by Edward Bruce in Buchan, anno 1308. Alexander of Argyll partied (sided with) the Baliol; his country, therefore, was wasted by Bruce, anno 1304, and himself taken by him, 1309. Macdougall of Lorn fought against the Bruce, and took him prisoner, from whom he notably escaped, so that there is none in the district left so considerable as this chief (Mackenzie) who had an immediate dependence on the Royal family and had this strong fort, which was never commanded by the Bruce's enemies, either English or Scots; and that his shelter and a.s.sistance was from a remote place and friend is evident from all our stories. But all their neighbours being stated on a different side from the Mackenzies engendered a feud betwixt him and them, especially with the Earl of Ross and Donald of the Isles, which never ended but with the end of the Earl of Ross and lowering of the Lord of the Isles." That this is true will be placed beyond question as we proceed.

It may, indeed, be a.s.sumed from subsequent events in the history of these powerful families and the united testimony of all the genealogists of the Mackenzies, that the chief of Kintail did befriend Robert the Bruce against his enemies and protected him in his castle of Ellandonnan, in spite of the commands of his immediate superior, the Earl of Ross, and the united power of all the other great families of the Western Isles and Argyle. And in his independent stand at this important period in the history of Scotland will be found the true grounds of the local rancour which afterwards prevailed between Mackenzie and the Island Lord, and which only terminated in the collapse of the Earls of Ross and the Lords of the Isles, upon the ruins of which, as a reward for proved loyalty to the reigning monarch, and as the result of the characteristic prudence of the race of MacKenneth, the House of Kintail gradually rose in power, subsequently absorbed the ancient inheritance of all the original possessors of the district, and ultimately extended their influence more widely over the whole provinces of Wester and Central Ross.

The genealogists further say that this chief waited on the King during his visit to Inverness in 1312. [The MS. histories of the Mackenzies give the date of Robert Bruce's visit to Inverness as 1307, but from a copy of the "Annual of Norway," at the negotiation and arrangement of which "the eminent Prince, Lord Robert, by the like grace, n.o.ble King of Scors (attended) personally on the other part," it will be seen that the date of the visit was 1312. - See 'Invernessiana,' by Charles Fraser-Mackintosh, F,S.A. Scot., pp.

36-40.] This may now be accepted as correct, as also that he fought at the head of his followers at the battle of Inverury, where Bruce defeated Mowbray and the Comyn in 1303. After this important engagement, according to Fenton, "all the n.o.bles, barons, towns, cities, garrisons, and castles north of the Grampians submitted to Robert the Bruce," when, with good reason, the second chief of Clan Kenneth was further confirmed in the favour of his sovereign, and in the government of Ellandonnan.

The Lord of the Isles had in the meantime, after his capture in Argyle, died while confined in Dundonald Castle, when his brother and successor, Angus Og, declared for Bruce. Argyll and Lorn left, or were driven out of the country, and took up their residence in England. With Angus Og of the Isles now on the side of Bruce, and the territories of Argyll and Lorn at his mercy in the absence of their respective chiefs, it was an easy matter for the King, during the varied fortunes of his heroic struggle, defending Scotland from the English, to draw largely upon the resources of the West Highlands and Isles, flow unmolested, particularly after the surprise at Perth in the winter of 1312, and the reduction of all the strongholds in Scotland - except Stirling, Berwick, and Dunbar - during the ensuing summer. The decisive blow, however, yet to be struck by which the independence and liberties of Scotland were to be for ever established and confirmed, and the time was drawing nigh when every nerve would have to be strained for a final effort to clear it, once for all, of the bated followers of the tyrant Edwards, roll them back before an impetuous wave of Scottish valour, and for ever put an end to England's claim to tyrannise over a free-born people whom it was found impossible to crush or cow. Nor, in the words of the Bennetsfield ma.n.u.script, "will we affect a morbid indifference to the fact that on the 24th of June, 1314, Bruce's heroic band of thirty thousand warriors on the glorious field of Bannockburn contained above ten thousand Western Highlanders and men of the Isles," under Angus Og of the Isles, Mackenzie of Kintail (who led five hundred of his va.s.sals), and other chiefs of the mainland, of whom Major specially says, that "they made an incredible slaughter of their enemies, slaying heaps of them around wherever they went, and running upon them with their broadswords and daggers like wild bears without any regard to their own lives." Alluding to the same event, Barbour says -

Angus of the Is'es and Bute alsae, And of the plain lands he had mae Of armed men a n.o.ble route, His battle stalwart was and stout.

General Stewart of Garth, in a footnote, 'Sketches of the Highlanders,' says that the eighteen Highland chiefs who fought at Bannockburn were - Mackay, Mackintosh, Macpherson, Cameron, Sinclair, Campbell, Menzies, Maclean, Sutherland, Robertson, Grant, Fraser, Macfarlane, Ross, Macgregor, Munro, Mackenzie, and Macquarrie and that "c.u.mming, Macdougall of Lorn, Macnab, and a few others were unfortunately in opposition to Bruce, and suffered accordingly." In due time the Western chiefs returned home, where on their arrival, many of them found local feuds still smouldering - encouraged by the absence of the natural protectors of the people - amidst the surrounding blaze. John lived peaceably at home during the remainder of his days. He married Margaret, daughter of David de Strathbogie, XIth Earl of Atholl, by Joan, daughter of John, the Red Comyn, last Earl of Badenoch, killed by Robert the Bruce in 1306. He died in 1328, and was succeeded by his only son,

III. KENNETH MACKENZIE,

Commonly called Coinneach na Sroine, or Kenneth of the Nose, from the size of that organ. Very little is known of this chief. But he does not appear to have been long in possession when he found himself serious trouble and unable to cope successfully with the Earl of Ross, who made determined efforts to re-establish the original position of his house over the Barons of Kintail. Wyntoun says that in 1331, Randolph, Earl of Moray, nephew of Robert the Bruce, and at that time Warden of Scotland, sent his Crowner to Ellandonnan, with orders to prepare the castle for his reception and to arrest all "misdoaris" in the district, fifty of whom the Crowner beheaded, and, according to the barbarous practice of even much later times, exposed their heads for the edification of the surrounding lieges high upon the castle walls. Randolph himself soon after arrived and, says the same chronicler, was "right blithe" to see the goodly show of heads "that flowered so weel that wall" - a ghastly warning to all treacherous or plundering "misdoaris." From what occurred on this occasion it is obvious that Kenneth either did not attempt or was not able to govern his people with a firm hand and to keep the district free from plunderers and lawlessness.