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SIR GEORGE MACKENZIE OF TARBAT, BARONET. [1630-
and had continued a prisoner all the while after Worcester fight, where he
was taken. He was kept for some years in the Tower of London, in Portland
Castle, and in other prisons, till he was set at liberty by those who called
home the King. So he went over to Holland. And since he continued so
long, and, contrary to all men's opinions, in so high a degree of favour and
confidence, it may be expected that I should be a little copious in setting out
his character, for I knew him very particularly. He made a very ill appear-
ance ; he was very big, his hair red, hanging oddly about him ; his tongue
was too big for his mouth, which made him bedew all that he talked to ; and
his whole manner was rough and boisterous, and very unfit for a court. He
was very learned, not only in Latin, in which he was a master, but in Greek
and Hebrew. He had read a great deal of divinity, and almost all the
historians, ancient and modern, so that he had great materials. He had with
these an extraordinary memory, and a copious but unpolished expression.
He was a man, as the Duke of Buckingham called him to me, of a blundering
understanding. He was haughty beyond expression, abject to those he saw
he must stoop to, but imperious to all others. He had a violence of passion
that carried him often to fits like madness, in which he had no temper. If
he took a thing wroDg, it was a vain thing to study to convince him : that
would rather provoke him to swear he would never be of another mind : he
was to be let alone ; and perhaps he would have forgot what he had said, and
come about of his own accord. He was the coldest friend, and the violentest
enemy I ever knew. I felt it too much not to know it. He at first seemed
to despise wealth, but he delivered himself up afterwards to luxury and
sensuality, and by that means he ran into a vast expense, and stuck at
nothing that was necessary to support it. In his long imprisonment he had
great impressions of religion on his mind, but he wore these out so entirely
that scarce any trace of them was left. His great experience in affairs, his
and had continued a prisoner all the while after Worcester fight, where he
was taken. He was kept for some years in the Tower of London, in Portland
Castle, and in other prisons, till he was set at liberty by those who called
home the King. So he went over to Holland. And since he continued so
long, and, contrary to all men's opinions, in so high a degree of favour and
confidence, it may be expected that I should be a little copious in setting out
his character, for I knew him very particularly. He made a very ill appear-
ance ; he was very big, his hair red, hanging oddly about him ; his tongue
was too big for his mouth, which made him bedew all that he talked to ; and
his whole manner was rough and boisterous, and very unfit for a court. He
was very learned, not only in Latin, in which he was a master, but in Greek
and Hebrew. He had read a great deal of divinity, and almost all the
historians, ancient and modern, so that he had great materials. He had with
these an extraordinary memory, and a copious but unpolished expression.
He was a man, as the Duke of Buckingham called him to me, of a blundering
understanding. He was haughty beyond expression, abject to those he saw
he must stoop to, but imperious to all others. He had a violence of passion
that carried him often to fits like madness, in which he had no temper. If
he took a thing wroDg, it was a vain thing to study to convince him : that
would rather provoke him to swear he would never be of another mind : he
was to be let alone ; and perhaps he would have forgot what he had said, and
come about of his own accord. He was the coldest friend, and the violentest
enemy I ever knew. I felt it too much not to know it. He at first seemed
to despise wealth, but he delivered himself up afterwards to luxury and
sensuality, and by that means he ran into a vast expense, and stuck at
nothing that was necessary to support it. In his long imprisonment he had
great impressions of religion on his mind, but he wore these out so entirely
that scarce any trace of them was left. His great experience in affairs, his
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| Histories of Scottish families > Earls of Cromartie > [NSLBLANK] > (152) |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/96759116 |
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| Description | Their kindred, country, and correspondence. By William Fraser. Edinburgh: Printed by Thomas and Archibald Constable, 1876. With plates, including portraits and facsimiles, and genealogical tables. 2 volumes: I. History of the earls of Cromartie. Cromartie correspondence, 1662-1705.--II. Cromartie correspondence, 1706-1774. The Cromartie charters, 1257-1499. The Cromartie patents of honour, etc., 1685-1861. Narrative by John, lord Macleod ... Of the insurrection in Scotland in the years 1745-6 ... Narrative by John, lord Macleod of his campaign in the seven years' war in Germany, 1757.--The Grandvale and Cromartie branch. The Royston branch. Baronies and castles inherited and acquired by George, first earl of Cromartie, 1654-1714. History of the family of Mackenzie, by Sir George Mackenzie, first earl of Cromartie. |
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| Shelfmark | Gen.8.Macke |
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| Description | A selection of almost 400 printed items relating to the history of Scottish families, mostly dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Includes memoirs, genealogies and clan histories, with a few produced by emigrant families. The earliest family history goes back to AD 916. |
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