Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 2

*HE CELtiC MAGAZINE. 133
no less claim to antiquity, from a native ancestor, Gillean (Cailean) Og,
or Colin the Younger, a son of Cailean nah'Airde, ancestor of the Earls of
Koss; and, from tlie ]\IS. of 1450, their Gaelic descent may now be con-
sidered established beyond disimte.
Until the forfeiture of the Lords of the Isles, the Mackenzies always
held their lands from the Earls of Ross, and followed their banner to the
field of battle, but after the forfeiture of that great and poAvcrful earl-
dom, the Mackenzies rapidly rose on the ruins of the Macdonalds to the
great poAver, extent of territorial possession, and almost regal magnificence
for which they were afterwards distinguished among the other great
clans of the north. They, in the reign of James the First, acquired a
very powerful influence in the Highlands, and became independent of any
superior but the Crown, for in the beginning of the fifteenth century
Kenneth Mor, High Chief of Kintail, when arrested in 1427, with his
son-in-law, Angus of Moray, and jNIacMhathain (INIatheson), by James the
First, during his parliament at Inverness, Avas ranked as the leader of
two thousand armed men. jSIackenzie and his followers Avere, in fact,
about the most potent chief and clan in the Avhole Higlilands.
Colin of Kintail married a daughter of "Walter, Lord High Steward of
Scotland. Colin died in 1278, and was succeeded by a son, Kenneth,
who in his turn Avas in 1304 succeeded by his son, also named Kenneth,
hence the name, the latter being called Golnneacli MacChoinnich — Ken-
neth MacKenneth, or Kenneth, son of Kenneth. The name Kenneth
in course of time became softened doAvn to Kenny or Kenzie. It is Avell
knoAvn that, not so very long ago, z in this and all other names continued
to be of the same value as the letter y, just as Ave still find it in Menzies,
^facFadzean, and many other names. Tliere seems to be no doubt Avhat-
ever that this is the real origin of the Mackenzies, and of their name.
Mnrchadh, or IVIurdo, son of Kenneth, received a charter of the lands
of Kijitail from David 11.
About 1463, Alexander Mackenzie of Kintail obtained the lands of
Strathgarve, and other possessions, from John, Earl of Eoss. Tliey after-
wards strenuously and successfully opposed every attempt made by the
Macdonalds to obtain possession of the forfeited earldom. Alexander AA'as
succeeded by his son, Kenneth, Avho married Lady Margaret IMacdonald,
daughter of the forfeited Earl John, Lord of the Isles ; but, through some
cause or another, ]\Iackenzie divorced the lady, and sent her home in a
most ignominious and degrading manner. She, it is said, only possessed
one eye, and Kintail sent her home riding a one-eyed steed, accompanied
by a one-eyed servant, foUoAved by a one-eyed dog. All these circum-
stances exasperated the lady's family to such an extent as to make them
the mortal and SAVorn enemies of the ]\Iackenzies.
Kenneth Og, his son by the divorced Avife, became chief in 1493,
Two years afterAvards, he and Farquhar IMackintosh Avere imprisoned by
James Y. in Edinburgh Castle. In 1497, however, they both made their
escape, but Avere, on their AA'ay to the Highlands, seized at TorAVood by
the laird of Buchanan, in a most treacherous manner. Kenneth Og made
a stout resistence, but he was ultimately slain, and Buchanan sent his
head as a present to the King,