History Of The Mackenzies [181]
he have had a married son, John Mackenzie of Gruinard, whose wife undoubtedly obtained lands in 1655; that is, when Kildun himself was only 18 years of age, and when John, already designated of Gruinard, was, in 1656, old enough to be cautioner for Kenneth, Earl of Seaforth?
Proof of the same conclusive character could be adduced to any extent, but in face of the documents already quoted, it is obviously superfluous to do so.
John Mackenzie, I. of Gruinard, could not in the nature of things have been a son of the second George Mackenzie of Kildun. He was, on the other hand, undoubtedly, the natural son of the first George, who succeeded his brother Colin as second Earl of Seaforth, and it necessarily follows that his representatives can have no claim whatever to the Chiefship of the Clan, or to the ancient honours of the family of Kintail and Seaforth. We shall now proceed to show that these distinctions belong to and are at present possessed by the male representative of
THE MACKENZIES OF ALLANGRANGE.
HAVING disposed of the only two serious claims made to the Chiefship of the Clan in later times our next step is to show who the present Chief is.
To do this we must go back to Kenneth, created Lord Mackenzie of Kintail in 1609; for there is no male representative of any later head of the House in existence, so far as can be ascertained, between that date and this. Lord Kenneth had seven sons--
1. Colin Ruadh or "the Red Earl," his heir and successor, who died, in 1633, without surviving male issue.
2. John Mackenzie of Lochslinn, who married Isabel, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, V. of Gairloch, and died in 1631, having been poisoned at Tam, without issue male. His only daughter, Margaret, married Sir Norman Macleod, I. of Bernera, with issue.
3. Kenneth, who died unmarried. Lord Kenneth, XII. of Kintail, married secondly, Isabel, daughter of Sir Gilbert Ogilvie of Powrie, with issue--
4. Alexander, who died unmarried.
5. George, who succeeded his brother Colin, as second Earl of Seaforth, and whose line terminated in Lady Caroline Mackenzie, who died without issue in 1847, her father Kenneth, Baron Ardelve and Earl of Seaforth in the peerage of Ireland, the last male of his line, having died at the Cape of Good Hope in 1781.
6. Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine, whose male issue was proved extinct at the Allangrange Service in 1829.
7. SIMON MACKENZIE, who, after the death of his brother John, was designated of Lochslinn, and whose representative will be shown to be the present head and heir male of the ancient family of Kintail and Seaforth, and Chief of the Clan. This SIMON married, first, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Peter Bruce of Ferrar, D.D., Principal of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, and son of Bruce of Fingask, by Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Wedderburn of Blackness, with issue-- five sons and one daughter, Jane, who married Robert Douglas of Katewell, in the parish of Kiltearn, Ross-shire, and secondly, Sir James Grant of Moyness.
The eldest of Simon's five sons was the famous SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE of Rosehaugh, Lord Advocate for Scotland, whose history is so well known that it would serve no good purpose to give only such a brief account of it as could be given in the space here available. He wrote several works of admitted literary merit, his Institutes being to this day considered a standard legal authority.
He left an autobiography in MS. which was published by his widow in 1716.
The estate of Rosehaugh, where he always took up his residence while in the Highlands, was, in his time, profusely covered with the Dog Rose, a fact which first suggested to the famous lawyer the idea of designating that property by the name of "Vallis Rosarum," or Rosehaugh. Sir George married first, Elizabeth, daughter of John Dickson of Hartree, with issue--(1) John; (2) Simon; (3) George, all of whom died young and unmarried; (4) Agnes, who in 1705 married Sir James Stuart Mackenzie, first Earl of Bute, with issue, whose
Proof of the same conclusive character could be adduced to any extent, but in face of the documents already quoted, it is obviously superfluous to do so.
John Mackenzie, I. of Gruinard, could not in the nature of things have been a son of the second George Mackenzie of Kildun. He was, on the other hand, undoubtedly, the natural son of the first George, who succeeded his brother Colin as second Earl of Seaforth, and it necessarily follows that his representatives can have no claim whatever to the Chiefship of the Clan, or to the ancient honours of the family of Kintail and Seaforth. We shall now proceed to show that these distinctions belong to and are at present possessed by the male representative of
THE MACKENZIES OF ALLANGRANGE.
HAVING disposed of the only two serious claims made to the Chiefship of the Clan in later times our next step is to show who the present Chief is.
To do this we must go back to Kenneth, created Lord Mackenzie of Kintail in 1609; for there is no male representative of any later head of the House in existence, so far as can be ascertained, between that date and this. Lord Kenneth had seven sons--
1. Colin Ruadh or "the Red Earl," his heir and successor, who died, in 1633, without surviving male issue.
2. John Mackenzie of Lochslinn, who married Isabel, daughter of Alexander Mackenzie, V. of Gairloch, and died in 1631, having been poisoned at Tam, without issue male. His only daughter, Margaret, married Sir Norman Macleod, I. of Bernera, with issue.
3. Kenneth, who died unmarried. Lord Kenneth, XII. of Kintail, married secondly, Isabel, daughter of Sir Gilbert Ogilvie of Powrie, with issue--
4. Alexander, who died unmarried.
5. George, who succeeded his brother Colin, as second Earl of Seaforth, and whose line terminated in Lady Caroline Mackenzie, who died without issue in 1847, her father Kenneth, Baron Ardelve and Earl of Seaforth in the peerage of Ireland, the last male of his line, having died at the Cape of Good Hope in 1781.
6. Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine, whose male issue was proved extinct at the Allangrange Service in 1829.
7. SIMON MACKENZIE, who, after the death of his brother John, was designated of Lochslinn, and whose representative will be shown to be the present head and heir male of the ancient family of Kintail and Seaforth, and Chief of the Clan. This SIMON married, first, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Peter Bruce of Ferrar, D.D., Principal of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, and son of Bruce of Fingask, by Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Wedderburn of Blackness, with issue-- five sons and one daughter, Jane, who married Robert Douglas of Katewell, in the parish of Kiltearn, Ross-shire, and secondly, Sir James Grant of Moyness.
The eldest of Simon's five sons was the famous SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE of Rosehaugh, Lord Advocate for Scotland, whose history is so well known that it would serve no good purpose to give only such a brief account of it as could be given in the space here available. He wrote several works of admitted literary merit, his Institutes being to this day considered a standard legal authority.
He left an autobiography in MS. which was published by his widow in 1716.
The estate of Rosehaugh, where he always took up his residence while in the Highlands, was, in his time, profusely covered with the Dog Rose, a fact which first suggested to the famous lawyer the idea of designating that property by the name of "Vallis Rosarum," or Rosehaugh. Sir George married first, Elizabeth, daughter of John Dickson of Hartree, with issue--(1) John; (2) Simon; (3) George, all of whom died young and unmarried; (4) Agnes, who in 1705 married Sir James Stuart Mackenzie, first Earl of Bute, with issue, whose