Alexander Mackenzie

Alastair Ionraic, or Alexander the Upright, so called "for his righteousness." He was among the Western barons summoned in 1427, to meet King James I. at Inverness, who, on his return from a long captivity in England, in 1424, determined to put down the rebellion and oppression which was then and for some time previously so rampant in the Highlands.

To judge by the poceedings of a Parliament held at Perth on the 30th September 1426, James exhibited a foresight and appreciation of the conduct of the lairds in those days, and passed laws which might with good effect, and with equal propriety, be applied to the state of affairs in our own time. In that Parliament an Act was passed which, among other things, ordained that, north of the Grampians, the fruit of those lands should be expended in the country where those lands lie. The Act is as follows:--"It is ordanit be the King ande the Parliament that everilk lorde hafande landis bezonde the mownthe (the Grampians) in the quhilk landis in auld tymes there was castellis, fortalyces and manerplaicis, big, reparell and reforme their castellis and maneris, and duell in thame, be thameself, or be ane of thare frendis for the gracious gournall of thar landis, be gude polising and to expende ye fruyt of thar landis in the countree where thar landis lyis." [Invernessiana, p.102.]

James was determined to bring the Highlanders to submission, and Fordun relates a characteristic anecdote in which the King pointedly declared his resolution. When the excesses in the Highlands were first reported to him by one of his nobles, on entering Scotland, he thus expressed himself :--" Let God but grant me life, and there shall not be a spot in my dominions where the key shall riot keep the castle, and the furze bush the cow, though I myself should lead the life of a dog to accomplish it"; and it was in this frame of mind that he visited Inverness in 1427, determined to establish good government and order in the North, then in such a state of insubordination that neither life nor property was secure. The principal chiefs, on his order or invitation met him, from what motives it is impossible to determine--whether hoping for a reconciliation by prompt compliance with the Royal will, or from a dread, in case of refusal, to suffer the fate of the Southern barons who had already fallen victims to his severity. The order was in any case obeyed, and all the leading chiefs repaired to meet him at the Castle of Inverness.

As they entered the ball, however, where the Parliament was at the time sitting, they were, one by one, by order of the King, arrested, ironed, and imprisoned in different apartments, and debarred from having any communications with each other, or with their followers.

Fordun says that James displayed marks of great joy as these turbulent and haughty spirits, caught in the toils which he had prepared for them, came voluntarily within reach of his regal power, and that be "caused to be arrested Alexander of the Isles, and his mother, Countess of Ross, daughter and heiress of Sir Walter Lesley, as well as the more notable men of the north, each of whom he wisely invited singly to the Castle, and caused to be put in strict confinement apart. There he also arrested Angus Duff (Angus Dubh Mackay) with his four sons, the leader of 4000 men from Strathnarven (Strathnaver.) Kenneth More, with his son-in-law, leader of two thousand men; [All writers on the Clan Mackenzie have hitherto claimed this Kenneth More as their Chief, and argued from the above that Mackenzie had a following of two thousand fighting men in 1427. It will be seen that Alexander was Chief at this time, but Kenneth More may have been intended for MacKenneth More, or the Great Mackenzie. He certainly could have had no such following of his own name.] John Ross, William Lesley, Angus de Moravia, and Macmaken, leaders of two thousand men; and also other lawless caterans and great captains in proportion, to the number of about fifty Alexander Makgorrie (MacGodfrey) of Garmoran, and John Macarthur (of the family of Campbell), a great chief among his own clan, and the leader of a thousand and more, were convicted, and being adjudged to death were beheaded. Then James Cambel was hanged, being accused and convicted of the slaughter of John of the Isles (John Mor, first of the Macdonalds of Isla.) The rest were sent here and there to the different castles of the noblemen throughout the kingdom, and were afterwards condemned to different kinds of death, and some were set at liberty." Among the latter was Alexander of Kintail. The King sent him, then a mere youth, to the High School at Perth, at that time the principal literary seminary in the kingdom, while the city itself was frequently the seat of the Court.

During Kintail's absence it appears that his three bastard uncles ravaged the district of Kinlochewe, for we find them insulting and troubling "Mackenzie's tenants in Kenlochewe and Kintail Macaulay, who was still Constable in Ellandonnan, not thinking it proper to leave his post, proposed Finlay Dubh Mac Gillechriost as the fittest person to be sent to St. Johnston, now Perth, and by general consent he accordingly went to inform his young master, who was then there with the rest of the King's ward children at school, of his lordship's tenants being imposed on as above, which, with Finlay's remonstrance on the subject, prevailed on Alexander, his young master, to come home, and being backed with all the assistance Finlay could command, soon brought his three bastard uncles to condign punishment." [Genealogical Account of the Macraes.]

The writer of the Ardintoul MS. says that Finlay "prevailed on him to go home without letting the master of the school know of it. Trysting with him at a certaiu place and set hour they set off, and, lest any should surprise them, they declined the common road and went to Macdougall of Lorn, he being acquainted with him at St. Johnston. Macdougall entertained him kindly, and kept him with him for several days. He at that time made his acquaintance with Macdougall's daughter, whom afterwards he married, and from thence came to his own Kintail, and having his authority and right backed with the power of the people, he calls his bastard uncles before him, and removes their quarters from Kenlochewe, and gave them possessions in Glenelchaig in Kintail prescribing measures and rule for them how to behave, assuring them, though he pardoned them at that time, they should forfeit favours and be severely punished if they transgressed for the future; but after this, going to the county of Ross to their old dwelling at Kenlochewe, they turned to practice their old tricks and broke loose, so that he was forced to correct their insolency and make them shorter by the heads, and thus the people were quit of their trouble."

The young Lord of the Isles was at the same time that Mackenzie went to Perth sent to Edinburgh, from which he soon afterwards escaped to the North, at the instigation of his mother, the Countess, raised his vassals, and, joined by all the outlaws and vagabonds in the country, numbering a formidable body of about ten thousand, he laid waste the country, plundered and devastated the crown lands, against which his vengeance was specially directed, razed the Royal burgh of Inverness to the ground, pillaged and burned the houses, and perpetrated every description of cruelty. He then besieged the Castle, but without success, after which he retired precipitately towards Lochaber, where he was met by the Royal forces, commanded by the King in person. The Lord of the Isles prepared for battle, but he had the mortification to notice the desertion of Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron, who had previously joined him, and of seeing them going over in a body to the Royal standard. The King immediately attacked the island chief and completely routed his forces, while their leader sought safety in flight. He was vigorously pursued, and finding escape or concealment equally impossible, and being reduced to the utmost distress, hunted from place to place by his vigilant pursuers, the haughty chief resolved to throw himself entirely on the mercy of His Majesty, and finding his way to Edinburgh in the most secret manner, and on the occasion of a solemn festival on Easter Sunday, in 1429, at Holyrood, he suddenly appeared in his shirt and drawers before the King and Queen, surrounded by all the nobles of the Court, while they were engaged in their devotions before the High Altar, and implored, on his knees, with a naked sword held by the point in his hand, the forgiveness of his sovereign. With bonnet in hand, his legs and arms quite bare, his body covered only with a plaid, and in token of absolute submission, he offered his sword to the King. His appearance, strengthened by the solicitations of the affected Queen and all the nobles, made such an impression on His Majesty that he submitted to the promptings of his heart against the wiser and more prudent dictates of his judgment. He accepted the sword offered him, and spared the life of his captive, but immediately committed him to Tantallon Castle, under the charge of William Douglas, Earl of Angus. The spirit of Alexander's followers, however, could not brook this mortal offence, and the whole strength of the clan was promptly mustered under his cousin Donald Balloch, who led them to Lochaber, where they met the King's forces under the Earls of Mar and Caithness, killed the latter, gained a complete victory over the Royal army, and returned to the Isles in triumph, with an immense quantity of spoil.

James soon after proceeded north in person as far as Dunstaffnage; Donald Balloch fled to Ireland; and, after several encounters with the rebels, the King obtained the submission of the majority of the chiefs who were engaged in the rebellion, while others were promptly apprehended and executed to the number of about three hundred. The King thereupon released the Lord of the Isles from Tantallon Castle, and granted him a free pardon for all his rebellious acts, confirmed him in all his titles and possessions, and further conferred upon him, in addition, the Lordship of Lochaber, which had previously, on its forfeiture, been granted to the Earl of Mar. After his first escape from Edinburgh, the Lord of the Isles again in 1429 raised the standard of revolt. He for the second time burnt the town of Inverness, while Mackenzie was "attending to his duties at Court."

Kintail was recalled by his followers, who armed for the King, and led by their young chief on his return home, they materially aided in the overthrow of Alexander of the Isles at the same time securing peace and good government in their own district, and among most of the surrounding tribes. Alexander is also found actively supporting the King, and with the Royal army, during the turbulent rule of John, successor to Alexander, Lord of the Isles, who afterwards, in 1447, died at peace with his sovereign.

James I. died in 1460, and was succeeded by James II. When, in 1462, the Earl of Douglas, the Lord of the Isles, and Donald Balloch of Isla entered into a treaty with the King of England for the subjugation of Scotland, on condition, in the event of success, that the whole of Scotland, north of the Firth of Forth, should be divided between them, Alexander Mackenzie stood firm in the interest of the ruling monarch, and with such success that nothing came of this extraordinary compact. We soon after find him rewarded by a charter in his favour, dated 7th January 1463, confirming him in his lands of Kintail, with a further grant of the "5 merk lands of Killin, the lands of Garve, and the 2 merk lands of Coryvulzie, with the three merk lands of Kinlochluichart, and 2 merk lands of Ach-na-Clerich, the 2 merk lands of Garbat, the merk lands of Delintan, and the 4 merk lands of Tarvie, all lying within the shire and Earldom of Ross, to be holden of the said John and his successors, Earls of Ross." This is the first Crown charter in favour of the Mackenzie chief of which any authentic record exists.

Alexander continued to use his great influence at Court, as well as with John Lord of the Isles, for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation between his Majesty and his powerful subject during the unnatural rebellion of Angus Og against his father. The King, however, proved inexorable, and refused to treat with the Earl on any condition other than the absolute and unconditional surrender of the earldom of Ross to the Crown, of which, however, he would be allowed to hold all his other possessions in future. These conditions the island chief haughtily refused, again flew to arms, and in 1476 invaded Moray, but finding that he could offer no effectual resistance to the powerful forces sent against him by the King, he, by the seasonable grants of the lands of Knapdale and Kintyre, secured the influence of Colin, first Earl of Argyll, in his favour, and with the additional assistance of Kintail, procured remission of his past offences on the conditions previously offered to him and resigning for ever, in 1476, the Earldom of Ross to the King, he "was infeft of new" in the Lordship of the Isles and the other possessions which he had not been called upon to renounce. The Earldom was in the same year, in the 9th Parliament of James III., irrevocably annexed to the Crown, where the title and the honours still remain, held by the Prince of Wales.

The great services rendered by the Baron of Kintail to the reigning family, especially during these negotiations, and generally throughout his long rule at Ellandonnan, were recognised by a charter from the Crown, dated Edinburgh, November 1476, of some of the lands renounced by the Earl of Ross, viz., Strathconan, Strathbraan, and Strathgarve; and after this the Barons of Kintail held all their lands quite independently of any superior but the Crown. During the long continued disputes between the Earl of Ross and Kintail no one was more zealous in the cause of the island chief than Allan Macdonald of Moydart, who, during Mackenzie's absence, made several raids into Kintail, ravaged the country, and carried away large numbers of cattle. After the forfeiture of the Earldom of Ross, Allan's youngest brother, supported by a faction of the tenantry, rebelled against his elder brother, and possessed himself for a time of the Moydart estates.

The Lord of the Isles was unwilling to appear so soon in these broils; or perhaps he favoured the pretentions of the younger brother, and refused to give any assistance to Allan, who, however, hit upon a device as bold as it ultimately proved successful. He started for Kinellan, "being ane ile in ane loch," where Mackenzie at the time resided, and presented himself personally before his old enemy, who was naturally surprised beyond measure to receive such a visit from one to whom he had never been reconciled. Allan, however, related how he had been oppressed by his brother and his nearest friends and how he had been refused aid from those to whom he had a natural right to look for it. In these desperate circumstances he resolved to apply to his greatest enemy, who, he argued, might for any assistance he could give gain in return as faithful a friend as he bad previously been his "diligent adversary." Alexander, on hearing the story, was moved to pity by the manner in which Allan had been oppressed by his own relatives, promised him the required support, proceeded in person with a sufficient force to repossess him, and finally accomplished his purpose. The other Macdonalds, who had been dispossessed thereupon represented to the King that Alexander Mackenzie had invaded their territory as a "disturber of the peace, and ane oppressor," the result being that he was cited before His Majesty at Edinburgh, "but here was occasion given to Allan to requite Alexander's generosity, for Alexander having raised armies to assist him, without commission, he found in it a transgression of the law, though just upon the matter; so to prevent Alexander's prejudice, he presently went to Holyrood house, where the King was, and being of a bold temper, did truly relate how his and Alexander's affairs stood, showing withal that he, as being the occasion of it, was ready to suffer what law would exact rather than to expose so generous a friend to any hazard. King James was so taken with their reciprocal heroisms, that he not only forgave, but allowed Alexander, and of new confirmed Allan in the lands of Moydart." [Cromartie MS. of the Mackenzies.] The two were then allowed to return home unmolested.

Some time before this a desperate skirmish took place at a place called Bealach nam Brog, "betwixt the heights of Fearann Donuil and Lochbraon" (Dundonald and Lochbroom), which was brought about by some of Kintail's vassals, instigated by Donald Garbh M'Iver, who attempted to seize the Earl of Ross. The plot was, however, discovered, and M'Iver was seized by the Lord of the Isles' followers, and imprisoned in the Castle of Dingwall. He was soon released, however, by his undaunted countrymen from Kenlochewe, consisting of Macivers, Maclennans, Macaulays, and Macleays, who, by way of reprisal, pursued and seized the Earl's relative, Alexander Ross of Balnagown, and carried him along with them. The Earl at once apprised Lord Lovat, who was then His Majesty's Lieutenant in the North, of the illegal seizure of Balnagown, and his lordship promptly dispatched northward two hundred men, who, joined by Ross's vassals, the Munroes of Fowlis, and the Dingwalls of Kildun, pursued and overtook the western tribes at Bealach nam Brog, where they were resting themselves. A sanguinary conflict ensued, aggravated and more than usually exasperated by a keen and bitter recollection of ancient feuds and animosities. The Kenlochewe men seem to have been almost extirpated. The race of Dingwall were actually extinguished, one hundred and forty of their men having been slain, while the family of Fowlis lost eleven members of their house alone, with many of the leading men of their clan. ["Among the rest ther wer slain eleven Monroes or the House or Foulls, that wer to succeed one after another; so that the succession of Foulls fell into a chyld then lying in his cradle."--Sir Robert Gordon's History 0f the Earldom of Sutherland, p. 36.]

An interesting account of this skirmish and the cause which led to it is given in one of the family manuscripts. It says Euphemia Leslie, Countess Dowager of Ross, lived at Dingwall. She would gladly have married Alexander of Kintail, he being a proper handsome young man, and she signified no less to himself. He refused the offer, perhaps, because he plighted his faith to Macdougall's daughter, but though he had not had done so, he had all the reason imaginable to reject the Countess's offer, for besides that she was not able to add to his estate, being but a life-rentrix, she was a turbulent woman, and therefore, in the year 1426, the King committed her to prison in St. Colin's Isle (Dingwall), because she had instigated her son, Alexander Earl of Ross, to rebellion. She invited Kintail to her Court in Dingwall to make a last effort, but finding him obstinate she converted her love to hatred and revenge, and made him prisoner, and either by torturing or bribing his page, he procured the golden ring which was the token between Mackenzie and Macaulay, the governor of Ellandonnan, who had strict orders not to quit the castle or suffer any one to enter it until he sent him that token.

The Countess sent a gentleman to Ellandonnan with the ring, who, by her instructions, informed Macaulay that his master was, or shortly would be, married to the Countess of Ross, desiring the Governor to repair to his master and to leave. the stronghold with him. Macaulay seeing and receiving the ring believed the story, and gave up the castle, but in a few days he discovered his mistake and found that his chief was a prisoner instead of being a bridegroom. He went straight to Dingwall, and finding an opportunity to communicate with Mackenzie, the latter made allegorical remarks by which Macaulay understood that nothing would secure his release but the apprehension of Ross of Balnagown, who was grand uncle, or grand uncle's son to the Countess. Macaulay returned to Kintail, made up a company of the "prettiest fellows" he could find of Mackenzie's family, and went back with them to Easter Ross, and in the morning apprehended Balnagown in a little arbour near the house, in a little wood to which he usually resorted for an airing, and, mounting him on horseback, carried him westward among the hills. Balnagown's friends were soon in pursuit, but fearing capture, Macaulay sent Balnagown away under guard, resolving to fight and detain the pursuers at Bealach nam Brog, as already described, until Balnagown was safely out of their reach.

After his success here Macaulay went to Kintail, and at Glenluing, five miles from Ellandonnan, he overtook thirty men, sent by the Countess, with meal and other provisions for the garrison, and the spot, where they seized them is to this day called Innis nam Balg. Macaulay secured them, and placed his men in their upper garments and plaids, who took the sacks of meal on their backs, and went straight with them to the garrison, whose impoverished condition induced the Governor to admit them without any enquiry, not doubting but they were his own friends. Once inside they threw down their burdens, drew their weapons from under their plaids, seized the new Governor and all his men and kept them in captivity until Mackenzie was afterwards exchanged for the Governor and Balnagown. [Ardintoul MS.]

There has been considerable difference of opinion as to the date of this encounter, but it is finally set at rest by the discovery of a positive date in the Fowlis papers, where it is said that "George, the fourth Laird, and his son, begotton on Balnagown's daughter, were killed at the conflict of Beallach na Brog, in the year 1452, and Dingwall of Kildun, with several of their friends and followers, in taking back the Earl of Ross's second son from Clan Iver, Clan Tarlich or Maclennans, and Clan Leod." [The Earl of Cromarty gives a different version, and says that the battle or skirmish took place in the year immediately after the Battle of Harlaw.

In this he is manifestly in error. The Highlanders, to defend themselves from the arrows of their enemies, with their belts tied their shoes on their breasts, hence the name "Bealach nam Brog," or the Pass of the Shoes.] The Balnagown of that date was not the Earl of Ross's son, but a near relative.

Angus Og, after many sanguinary conflicts with his father, finally overthrew him at the battle of the Bloody Bay, between Tobermory and Ardnamurchan, obtained possession of all the extensive territories of his clan, and was recognised as its legitimate head. He then determined to punish Mackenzie for having taken his father's part at Court, and otherwise, during the rebellion, and swore that he would recover from him the great possessions which originally belonged to his predecessors, the Lords of the Isles, but now secured by Royal Charter to the Baron of Kintail. With this object he decided to attack him, and marched to Inverness, where he expected to meet the now aged Mackenzie returning from attendance at Court. Angus, however, missed his object, and instead of killing Mackenzie, he was himself assassinated by his harper, an Irishman. This tragic, but well-merited, close to such a violent and turbulent career, is recorded in the Red Book of Clan Ranald in the following terms:--"Donald, the son of Angus that was killed at Inverness by his own harper, son of John of the Isles, son of Alexander, son of Donald, son of John, son of Angus Og;" an event which must have occurred about 1485.

Alexander was the first of the family who lived on the island In Loch Kinellan, while at the same time he had Brahan as a "maines," or farm, both of which his successor for a time held from the King at a yearly rent, until Kenneth feued Brahan, and Colin, his son, feued Kinellan.

The Earl of Sutherland had been on friendly terms with Mackenzie, and appointed him as his deputy in the management of the Earldom of Ross, which devolved on him after the forfeiture. On one occasion, the Earl of Sutherland being in the south at Court, the Strathnaver men and the men of the Braes of Caithness took advantage of his absence and invaded Sutherland. An account of their conduct soon spread abroad, and reached the ears of the Chief of Kintail, who at once with a party of six hundred men, passed into Sutherland, where, the Earl's followers having joined him, he defeated the invaders, killed a large number of them, forced the remainder to sue for peace, and compelled them to give substantial security for their peaceful behaviour in future.

Kintail was now a very old man. His prudence and sagacity well repaid the judicious patronage of the first King James, confirmed and extended by his successors on the throne, and, as has been well said by his biographer, secured for him "the love and respect of three Princes in whose reign be flourished, and as his prudent management in the Earldom of Ross showed him to be a man of good natural parts, so it very much contributed to the advancement of the interest of his family by the acquisition of the lands he thereby made; nor was he less commendable for the quiet and peace he kept among his Highlanders, putting the laws punctually in execution against all delinquents." Such a character as this, justly called Alastair Ionraic, or the just, was certainly well fitted to govern, and deserved to flourish in the age in which he lived. Various important events occurred during the latter part of his life, but as Kenneth, his brave son and successor, was the actual leader of the clan for many years before his father's death, and especially at the celebrated battle of Park, the leading battles and feuds in which the clan was engaged during this period will be dealt with in the account of that Baron. There has been much difference of opinion among the genealogists and family historians regarding Alexander's two wives. Both Edmonston in his Baronagium Genealogicum, and Douglas in his Peerage say that Alexander's first wife was Agnes, sixth daughter of Colin, first Earl of Argyll. This we shall prove to be absolutely impossible within the ordinary course of the laws of nature. Colin, first Earl of Argyll, succeeded as a minor in 1453, his uncle, Sir Colin Campbell of Glenurchy, having been appointed his tutor. Colin of Argyll was created Earl in 1457, probably on his coming of age. He married Isabel Stewart of Lorn, had two sons, and, according to Crawford, five daughters. If he had a daughter Agnes she must have been his sixth daughter and eighth child, Assuming that Argyll married when he became of age, about 1457, Agnes, as his eighth surviving child, could not have been born before 1470. Her reputed husband, Alexander of Kintail, was then close upon 70 years of age, having died in 1488, bordering upon 90, when his alleged wife would barely have reached a marriageable age, and when her reputed son, Kenneth a Bhlair, pretty well advanced in years, had already fought the famous battle of Park. John of Killin, her alleged grandson, was born about 1480, when at most the lady said to have been his grandmother could only have been 10 to 15 years of age, and, in 1513, at the age of 33, he distinguished himself at the battle of Flodden, where Archibald second Earl of Argyll, the lady's brother, at least ten years older than Agnes, was slain. All this is of course impossible.

A similar difficulty has arisen, from what appears to be a very simple cause, about Alexander's second marriage. The authors of all the family MS. histories are unanimous in stating that his first wife was Anna, daughter of John Macdougall of Lorn, or Dunollich, known as John Mac Alan Mac Cowle, fourth in descent from Alexander de Ergedia and Lord of Lorn (1284), and eighth from Somerled, Thane of Argyle, who died in 1164. Though the direct line of the house of Lorn ended in two heiresses who, in 1388, carried away the property to their husbands, the Macdougalls of Dunollich became the male representatives of the ancient and illustrious house of Lorn ; and this fully accounts for the difference and confusion which has been introduced about the families of Lorn and Dunollich in some of the Mackenzie family manuscripts.

The same authorities who affirm that Agnes of Argyll was Alexander's first wife assert that Anna Macdougall, was his second. There is ample testimony to show that the latter was his first, although some confusion has again arisen in this case from a similarity of names and patronymics. Some of the family MSS. say that Alexander's second wife was Margaret, daughter of "M'Couil," "M'Chouile," or "Macdougall" of Morir, or Morar, while others, among them the Allangrange Ancient MS. have it that she was "MacRanald's daughter." The Ardintoul MS. describes her as "Muidort's daughter." One of the Gairloch MSS. says that she was "Margarite, the daughter of Macdonald of Morar, of the Clan Ranald Race, from the stock of Donald, Lord of the Aebudae Islands," while in another MS. in Sir Kenneth Mackenzie's possession she is designated "Margaret Macdonald, daughter of Macdonald of Morar." There is thus an apparent contradiction, but it can be conclusively shown that the lady so variously described was one and the same person. Gregory in his Highlands and Islands of Scotland, p. 158, states that "Macdougall" was the patronymic of one of the families of Clan Ranald of Moydart and Morar. Speaking of Dugald MacRanald, son and successor to Ranald Ban Ranaldson of Moydart, he says, "Allan the eldest son of Dougal, and the undoubted male heir of Clan Ranald, acquired the estate of Morar, which he transmitted to his descendants.

He and his successors were always styled, in Gaelic, MacDhughail Mhorair, ie., MacDougal of Morar, from their ancestor, Dougald MacRanald." At p. 65 he says that "the Clan Ranald of Garmoran comprehended the families of Moydart, Morar, Knoydart, and Glengarry." This family was descended from Ranald, younger son of John of the Isles, by his marriage with the heiress of the MacRorys or MacRuaries of Garmoran whose ancestry, from Somerled of the Isles, is as illustrious as that of any family in the kingdom. A district north of Arisaig is still known among the Western Islanders as "Mor-thir Mhic Dhughail" or the mainland possession of the son of Dougall. The MS. histories of the Mackenzies having been all written after the patronymic of "MacDhughail" was acquired by the Macdonalds of Moydart and Morar, they naturally enough described Alexander of Kintail's second wife as a daughter of Macdougall of Morar, of Muidort, and of Clan Ranald, indiscriminately. But in point of fact all these designations describe one and the same person.

Alexander married first, Anna, daughter of John Macdougall of Dunolly, with issue--

1. Kenneth, his heir and successor.

2. Duncan, progenitor of the Mackenzies of Hilton, and their branches, and of whom in their order as the senior cadet family of the clan.

He married secondly Margaret, daughter of Macdonald of Morar, a cadet of Clanranald, with issue--

3. Hector Roy or "Eachainn Ruadh," from whom are descended the Mackenzies of Gairloch and their various offshoots, of whom in their proper place.

4. A daughter, who married Allan Macleod, Hector Roy's predecessor in Gairloch.

He is also said to have had a natural son, Dugal, who became a priest and was Superior of the Priory of Beauly, which he repaired about 1478, and in which he is buried. This ecclesiastic is said by others to have been Alexander's brother. (Anderson's History of the Frasers, p. 66; and MS. History of the Mackenzies.) Alexander died in 1488 at Kinellan, having attained the extreme old age of 90 years, was buried in the Priory of Beauly, and was succeeded by his eldest son by the first marriage, Kenneth Mackenzie, Better known as "Coinneach a' Bhlair," or Kenneth of the Battle.

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