History Of The Mackenzies [258]
Mackenzies of Sand.
The descent of the second family is as follows--Murdoch Mackenzie, I. of Fairburn, married as his second wife Mary, daughter of Roderick MacFarquhar Maclean, with issue along with two other sons and daughters--
RODERICK MACKENZIE of Knockbaxter, in the vicinity of Dingwall. He married Aegidia, daughter of Bayne of Tulloch (sasine 1636), with issue--(1) the Rev. Murdoch Mackenzie, who married a daughter of MacCulloch of Park; (2) Kenneth, who married a daughter of the Rev. John Mackenzie, Cromarty; and (3)--
I. THE REV. RODERICK MACKENZIE, who was minister of Gairloch from 1649 to 1710. Sir James Dixon Mackenzie of Findon says distinctly that Roderick was "ancestor of Kernsary," [Genealogical Tables of the Mackenzies, Sheet 5.] and there appears to be no doubt about it. But it is not at all clear whether he or his brother Kenneth bought the estate from the Mackenzies of Coul, who then owned it. Mr John H. Dixon, in his interesting book on Gairloch, says that Roderick had a son Kenneth, born about 1703, by a sister of the Laird of Knockbain, but if there was such a son, which is highly improbable, he could not have been the purchaser of any property during his father's lifetime, who died seven years after Kenneth's alleged birth, when the father must have been very advanced in years--close upon eighty. The probability therefore is that Roderick's brother Kenneth--who, like himself, during a portion of his ministry was an Episcopalian clergyman--was the purchaser and that he died, without issue, before his brother, and left the estate to Roderick, who died in 1710, or perhaps to his eldest son Murdoch, who, in his marriage contract, dated 1708, two years before his father's death, is designated "of Kernsary." Mr Dixon has several references to these men, but being traditional they are more or less unreliable; and as yet no papers have been discovered which throw any light on the original purchase by this family.
Writing about their immediate progenitor Mr Dixon says--"In 1649 the Rev. Roderick Mackenzie, third son of Roderick Mackenzie of Knockbackster, was admitted minister of Gairloch and continued so until his death in March 1710, after an incumbency of sixty-one years. He seems to have been a man of quiet easy-going temperament. When he came to Gairloch, Presbyterianism ruled; when Episcopacy was established in 1660, he conformed; and when the Revolution put an end to Episcopacy, he became a Presbyterian again." But that he never was a very enthusiastic one is clear from the Presbytery records during his incumbency, for they show that he seldom attended its meetings, though often specially cited by his brethren to do so. His brother Kenneth, who appears to have continued an Episcopalian all his life, was of a very different stamp. He seems to have spent a considerable portion of his early life in the Island of Bute, to which apparently he became very much attached, for when he left it and went to reside with his brother at Kernsary, probably as purchaser and proprietor of the estate, he took a smack load of Bute soil along with him in order that he might be buried in it when he died. A portion of this imported earth "was put into the Inverewe Church, so that when Kenneth was buried there he might lie beneath Bute soil the overplus was deposited in the garden of Kirkton house, where the heap is still preserved." [Dixon's Gairloch.] The same writer states distinctly that Kenneth came from Bute, that he was the actual purchaser of the estate, that he resided in the proprietor's house at Kirkton, that he officiated in the old church there, some remains of which are still to be seen, and, he adds--"a loose stone may be seen in the part of the ruined church which was used as the burial place of the Kernsary family; it is inscribed `K M K 1678' and is believed to have recorded the date when the Rev. Kenneth built or restored the little church." But is it not much more likely to record the date of Kenneth's own
The descent of the second family is as follows--Murdoch Mackenzie, I. of Fairburn, married as his second wife Mary, daughter of Roderick MacFarquhar Maclean, with issue along with two other sons and daughters--
RODERICK MACKENZIE of Knockbaxter, in the vicinity of Dingwall. He married Aegidia, daughter of Bayne of Tulloch (sasine 1636), with issue--(1) the Rev. Murdoch Mackenzie, who married a daughter of MacCulloch of Park; (2) Kenneth, who married a daughter of the Rev. John Mackenzie, Cromarty; and (3)--
I. THE REV. RODERICK MACKENZIE, who was minister of Gairloch from 1649 to 1710. Sir James Dixon Mackenzie of Findon says distinctly that Roderick was "ancestor of Kernsary," [Genealogical Tables of the Mackenzies, Sheet 5.] and there appears to be no doubt about it. But it is not at all clear whether he or his brother Kenneth bought the estate from the Mackenzies of Coul, who then owned it. Mr John H. Dixon, in his interesting book on Gairloch, says that Roderick had a son Kenneth, born about 1703, by a sister of the Laird of Knockbain, but if there was such a son, which is highly improbable, he could not have been the purchaser of any property during his father's lifetime, who died seven years after Kenneth's alleged birth, when the father must have been very advanced in years--close upon eighty. The probability therefore is that Roderick's brother Kenneth--who, like himself, during a portion of his ministry was an Episcopalian clergyman--was the purchaser and that he died, without issue, before his brother, and left the estate to Roderick, who died in 1710, or perhaps to his eldest son Murdoch, who, in his marriage contract, dated 1708, two years before his father's death, is designated "of Kernsary." Mr Dixon has several references to these men, but being traditional they are more or less unreliable; and as yet no papers have been discovered which throw any light on the original purchase by this family.
Writing about their immediate progenitor Mr Dixon says--"In 1649 the Rev. Roderick Mackenzie, third son of Roderick Mackenzie of Knockbackster, was admitted minister of Gairloch and continued so until his death in March 1710, after an incumbency of sixty-one years. He seems to have been a man of quiet easy-going temperament. When he came to Gairloch, Presbyterianism ruled; when Episcopacy was established in 1660, he conformed; and when the Revolution put an end to Episcopacy, he became a Presbyterian again." But that he never was a very enthusiastic one is clear from the Presbytery records during his incumbency, for they show that he seldom attended its meetings, though often specially cited by his brethren to do so. His brother Kenneth, who appears to have continued an Episcopalian all his life, was of a very different stamp. He seems to have spent a considerable portion of his early life in the Island of Bute, to which apparently he became very much attached, for when he left it and went to reside with his brother at Kernsary, probably as purchaser and proprietor of the estate, he took a smack load of Bute soil along with him in order that he might be buried in it when he died. A portion of this imported earth "was put into the Inverewe Church, so that when Kenneth was buried there he might lie beneath Bute soil the overplus was deposited in the garden of Kirkton house, where the heap is still preserved." [Dixon's Gairloch.] The same writer states distinctly that Kenneth came from Bute, that he was the actual purchaser of the estate, that he resided in the proprietor's house at Kirkton, that he officiated in the old church there, some remains of which are still to be seen, and, he adds--"a loose stone may be seen in the part of the ruined church which was used as the burial place of the Kernsary family; it is inscribed `K M K 1678' and is believed to have recorded the date when the Rev. Kenneth built or restored the little church." But is it not much more likely to record the date of Kenneth's own