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68<br />
THE CLAN OF MACKENZIE.<br />
War Cry: "Tulach Ard" (A mountain in Kintail).<br />
Clan Pipe Music.- Lament "Cumha Thigearna Ghearrloch" ("Gairloch's Lament").<br />
Badge: Cuileann (Holly).<br />
HE descent of the chief of this clan<br />
" Mac Kenneth, great Earl of the North,<br />
The Lord of Loch Carton, Glenshiel, and Seaforth,<br />
ia of pure Scoto-Qaelic descent, with a strain of Irish, as asserted by Douglas and<br />
others. In the " lona Club Transactions" their descent in 1450 is given as follows :<br />
"The genealogy of the Clan Kenneth Murdoch, son of Kenneth, son of John, son of<br />
Kenneth, son of Angus, son of Christian, son of Adam, son of Gilleoin-Oig of the Aird."<br />
In Robertsons " Index of Missing Charters " there is a Crown Charter of Confirmation<br />
by David II. for the lands of " Kintale " in 1344, when a grant of that and other<br />
lands by William, Earl of Ross, to Reginald, son of Roderick de Insulis, dated 1342,<br />
4th July, is confirmed. In MacKenzie's " History of the Clan " the earliest date which<br />
can be assigned for its acquisition of Kintail from John, Earl of Ross, is 1463. After the forfeiture<br />
of the Lords of the Isles, the clan, like all others in the West became independent.<br />
Alexander, seventh chief of Kintail, accompanied James I. in his expedition to the north in 1426.<br />
He was ancestor of the MacKenzies, of Logie, Hilton, and Gairloch, and died in 1488.<br />
John, the ninth chief, followed James IV. to Flodden with a body of his clan, and narrowly escaped<br />
being made prisoner. He was faithful to Mary of Guise, Queen Regent, fought in his old age at<br />
Pinkie, and died in 1554.<br />
Colin, eleventh chief, fought bravely for Queen Mary at the battle of Langside, for which he was<br />
afterwards pardoned by the Regent Murray.<br />
Kenneth, his eldest son by Barbara Grant of that Ilk, was raised to the Peerage in 1609 as Lord<br />
MacKenzie of Kintail. From these descended the MacKenzies of Pluscardine and Lochslyne, according<br />
to Douglas. Colin, their eldest son, was created Earl of Seaforth in 1623. He and his brother<br />
John of Lochslyne, dying without issue, the title devolved on his half-brother, George, by a charter<br />
under the Great Seal. He went to Holland after the murder of Charles I., and was subsequently<br />
Secretary of State for Scotland.<br />
Kenneth, fourth Earl, was one of the Privy Council to King James VII., and K.T. in 16S7.<br />
He followed to Ireland and to France his Royal master through war and exile, and was created<br />
Marquis of Seaforth ; but as his patent had not passed the Great Seal of Scotland, the title was only<br />
recognised by the Jacobites. He died in 1701, and was succeeded by William, fifth Earl, who was<br />
attainted in 1715, and was at the battle of Glenshiel in 1719, when a rising in Scotland, aided by a<br />
few Spanish Infantry, was concerted by the Marquis of Tullibardine and the Earl Marischal.<br />
Earl William, after the insurrection of 1715, made his escape to France, where he remained till<br />
George I. granted him a pardon for his life in 1726, after which he returned to Scotland, and spent<br />
the remainder of his life in peace and retirement. He died in 1740, and would have been succeeded<br />
by his son Kenneth, Lord Fortrose, as sixth Earl, but for the attainder.<br />
The fighting force of the MacKenzies is given by Forbes at 2500 men, adding those of the Earl of<br />
Cromartie and the Lairds of Gairloch, Skatwell, Kilcowie, Redcastle, and Comrie, all MacKenzies.<br />
Kenneth, son of Lord Fortrose, having repurchased the property from the Crown, was created an<br />
Irish Peer as Viscount Fortrose, and in 1771 was restored to the Earldom of Seaforth. In gratitude,<br />
therefore, he and the clan of the Caberjey, as the MacKenzies are called, in 1778 raised the old Seaforth<br />
Highlanders, afterwards numbered as the 72nd, 1000 strong, for service in India. In 1793 the<br />
clan, under Humbereton MacKenzie, who died Earl of Seaforth in 1816, raised the " 78th," or famous<br />
Roan-shire Buffs, and now both regiments are formed in one, as the 1st and 2nd Battalions of " the<br />
Duke of Albany's Seaforth Highlanders."<br />
The Chieftainship and the Earldom were claimed by MacKenzie-Fowler of Allangrange ; but now<br />
Anne (only child of John Hay MacKenzie of Cromartie and Newhall), Mistress of the Robes to Her<br />
Majesty (1870-74), Ducheaa of Sutherland, became in her own right (1861), Countess of Cromartie,<br />
Viscountess Tarbet, Baronew MacLeod and Castlehaven.<br />
Kenneth MacKenzie of Gairloch was created a Bart, in 1629, and there are six other Baronetcies<br />
borne by members of the clan.<br />
In the field of literature we cannot forget Sir Alexander MacKenzie, the traveller, 1781-1816 ;<br />
George, author of the " Writers of the Scots Nation ;" and more than all, Henry, who was author of<br />
"The Man of Feeling."<br />
The above-named Anne, Countess of Cromartie, died in 1888, and wassucceeded by her second son,<br />
Francis, as Earl of Cromartie, etc. He died in 1393, and his elder daughter Sibell, was declared in<br />
March 1895 to hold all her father's titles, and so ia Countess of Cromartie.