Scotland and its History. the Mackenzie Clan.

Clan Mackenzie (Scottish Gaelic: Clann Choinnich [ˈkʰl̪ˠãũn̪ˠ ˈxɤɲɪç]) is a Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestors of the Mackenzie chiefs to the 12th century. However, the earliest Mackenzie chief recorded by contemporary evidence is Alexander Mackenzie of Kintail who died some time after 1471. Traditionally, during the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Mackenzies supported Robert the Bruce, but feuded with the Earls of Ross in the latter part of the 14th century. During the 15th and 16th-centuries the Mackenzies feuded with the neighboring clans of Munro and MacDonald. In the 17th century the Mackenzie chief was made Earl of Seaforth in the peerage of Scotland. During the Scottish Civil War of the 17th century the Mackenzies largely supported the Royalists. During the Jacobite rising of 1715 the chief and clan of Mackenzie supported the Jacobite cause. However, during the Jacobite rising of 1745 the clan was divided with the chief, Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose, supporting the British-Hanoverian Government and his relative, George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie, supporting the Jacobites.

The surname Mackenzie in Scottish Gaelic is MacCoinneach which means son of the fair bright one. The Mackenzies are believed to have the same ancestry as the Clan Matheson and Clan Anrias. All three are said to be descended from Gilleoin of the Aird, a Gaelic dynast who lived in the early 12th century. Another theory is that all three are descended from the thirteenth century Kermac Macmaghan. The chiefs of the Clan Mackenzie are said to have been settled at their great stronghold on Eilean Donan by 1297.

All of the earliest traditional Clan Mackenzie histories claim descent from a Fitzgerald progenitor. These histories include those by John Mackenzie of Applecross (died c.1684/5), George Mackenzie first Earl of Cromarty (died 1714) and the unpublished Letterfearn, Ardintoul and Allangrange manuscripts. It is believed that all of these histories ultimately derive from a single manuscript created by William MacQueen, Parson of Assynt in 1576, now lost.  Alexander Mackenzie followed the Fitzgerald scheme for the first edition of his History of the Mackenzies in 1879, but abandoned it in his later 1894 edition based on the intervening publication of genealogies contained in MS 1467.  MS 1467 was compiled 200 years before the earliest surviving Mackenzie traditional history. The Mackenzie and Matheson genealogies in MS 1467, which end c.1400, both derive from a Gilleoin of the Aird, but make no mention of Fitzgerald. The genealogies in MS 1467 have been interpreted as in part a census of the military resources available to Domhnall lord of the Isles in a period when he was seeking to make good his wife’s claims to the earldom of Ross, culminating in the battle of Harlaw in 1411. Based on MS 1467 and a series of charters associated with Beauly Priory, it has been suggested that the Mackenzies and Mathesons were junior branches of the Del Ard family, heirs to Gilleoin of the Aird. The senior line of this family, prominent in the 13th and 14th centuries, terminated in the heiress Margaret del Ard, the Lady of Erchless, who married Alexander Chisolm of Cromer c.1350.

In the 14th century during the Wars of Scottish Independence the Clan Mackenzie is said to have been among the clans who fought on the side of Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Inverurie (1308) against the forces of the Clan Comyn who were rivals to the throne. Chief Iain Mac Coinnich is said to have led a force of five hundred Mackenzies at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 where the English were defeated.

Later in the 14th century the Mackenzies are said to have become involved in battles against their powerful neighbour the Earl of Ross and his allies. This resulted in the capture and subsequent execution of chief Kenneth Mackenzie in 1346. Soon after this it appears that his successor as chief of the clan Mackenzie was living in an island castle in Loch Kinellan near Strathpeffer in Easter Ross and it was from this base that the clan was to advance westward once again to Kintail.

Recorded origins

The earliest likeness of a Mackenzie – the effigy of Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail (d. 1491/ 1492) located at Beauly Priory.

An early genealogy of the Mackenzies appears in MS 1467, but the earliest contemporary record of a living Mackenzie is of Alexander Mackenzie of Kintail (Alexandro McKennye de Kintaill) who appeared in two supplications for papal dispensation in 1465 and 1466 and was listed as a witness to a charter by John of Islay, Earl of Ross, and Lord of the Isles on 4 November 1471. The earliest known likeness of a Mackenzie is that of Sir Kenneth Mackenzie (d. 7 February 1491/1492), whose effigy can be seen at Beauly Priory. He is the first Mackenzie to be buried at Beauly Priory. There is no reliable evidence to support the traditional assertion that previous members of his family were buried at Iona.

15th century and clan conflicts

In 1452 a force of tribes loyal to Mackenzie of Kintail took hostage a relative of the Earl of Ross. This resulted in the Battle of Bealach nam Broig which was fought to the north-west of Ben Wyvis.  The Clan Munro and their septs the Dingwalls rescued the Ross hostage but won a hollow victory, with a great loss of their own men.

In 1488 the Clan Mackenzie fought at the Battle of Sauchieburn led by Hector Roy Mackenzie but after the defeat of the King’s forces there, Hector narrowly escaped, returning to Ross-shire where he took Redcastle from the Clan Rose, for the rebels.

In 1491 the Battle of Blar Na Pairce was fought between the Mackenzies and the MacDonalds. This was followed by the Raid on Ross also in 1491 when the Clan Mackenzie clashed with a number of clans including the Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh, Clan MacDonald of Clanranald, Clan Cameron and the Chattan Confederation of Clan Mackintosh.

In 1497 Alexander MacDonald of Lochalsh and his clan rebelled against the King. MacDonald invaded the fertile lands of Ross-shire where he was defeated in battle by the Mackenzies at the Battle of Drumchatt (1497), after which he was driven out of Ross-shire.

16th century and clan conflicts

During the Anglo-Scottish Wars John Mackenzie, 9th of Kintail led the clan at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. John was lucky enough to escape but many of his followers lost their lives. John Mackenzie also fought at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547 where he was captured by the English. However, his clan paid a ransom of cows for his release.

The growing importance of the Clan Mackenzie was vividly demonstrated in 1544 when the Earl of Huntly, the Lieutenant of the North, commanded chief John Mackenzie to raise his clan against Clan Ranald of Moidart. The Mackenzie chief refused and Huntly’s supporters, the Clan Grant, Clan Ross and Clan Mackintosh declined to attack the Mackenzies. From that time the Mackenzies were recognised as a separate and superior force in the north-west.

On 13 December 1545 at Dingwall, the Earl of Sutherland entered into a bond of manrent with John Mackenzie of Kintail for mutual defence against all enemies, reserving only their allegiance to the youthful Mary, Queen of Scots. At the Battle of Langside in 1568 the Mackenzies fought on the side of Mary, Queen of Scots, against the forces of her half-brother James Stewart, Earl of Moray. Their chief, Kenneth Mackenzie, 10th of Kintail died soon afterwards.

In 1570 a feud broke out with the Munros over the Castle Chanonry of Ross. Andrew Munro of Milntown defended it for 3 years against the Clan Mackenzie, at the expense of many lives on both sides. The feud was settled when the castle was handed over to the Mackenzies by an “Act of Pacification”. In 1597 the Battle of Logiebride took place between the Mackenzies and MacLeods of Rassay against the Munros and the Bain family of Tulloch Castle.

17th century and Civil War

Commemorative stone to the Mackenzies of Seaforth on the Isle of Lewis. The Mackenzie chief’s title of Earl of Seaforth took its name from Loch Seaforth between the Isles of Lewis and Harris

By the beginning of the 17th century, the territory of the Mackenzies extended from the Black Isle in the east to the Outer Hebrides in the west. They took over the Isle of Lewis from its former Clan MacLeod of Lewis rulers and also Loch Alsh from the MacDonells.The Battle of Morar in 1602 was fought between the Clan Mackenzie and Clan MacDonell of Glengarry.

In 1623, the clan chief Colin Mackenzie was made Earl of Seaforth, a title in the peerage of Scotland, taking his title from a sea loch on the Isle of Lewis.

In 1645, Lord Seaforth, fighting as a Covenanter, led a force against the royalist James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, at the Battle of Auldearn where the Covenanters were defeated. Montrose followed up his success by destroying many houses that belonged to people who had opposed the royalist cause, including that of Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine. Later in 1649 Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine adopted the royalist cause and led his own uprising in the Siege of Inverness (1649).

In 1672, the Mackenzies were granted a commission of “fire and sword” against the MacLeods of Assynt who were a branch of the Clan MacLeod of Lewis and were seated at Ardvreck Castle, which was attacked and captured by the Mackenzies, who took control of the lands of Assynt.

In 1688, Kenneth Mackenzie of Suddie was killed leading a government backed Independent Highland Company in support of Mackintosh of Mackintosh against the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch who were supported by the Clan Cameron at the Battle of Mulroy. During the Williamite War in Ireland the Clan Mackenzie (led by their chief Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth) are believed to have supported King James at the Siege of Derry and the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

18th century and Jacobite Risings

During the Jacobite rising of 1715 chief William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth led the Clan Mackenzie in support of the Jacobite rebels. However, during the Jacobite rising of 1745 the Clan Mackenzie was divided: The chief, Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose, did not support the Jacobites and raised several Independent Highland Companies from the Clan Mackenzie to support the British Government. However, during the 1745 rising a large part of the Clan Mackenzie followed the chief’s cousin, George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie who was a Jacobite.

1715 to 1719 Jacobite Rising

In what is known as the Skirmish of Alness in 1715 the Earl of Seaforth, chief of Mackenzie led a force of 3000 men that forced the retreat of a smaller force loyal to the British Government, which was commanded by the Earl of Sutherland and included the clans Sutherland, Munro, Ross and Mackay. Much of the Ross’s and Munro’s lands were ravaged, but they retaliated by raiding the Mackenzie lands in what is known as the Siege of Brahan.