Donald Alexander Mackenzie
Donald Alexander Mackenzie (24 July 1873 – 2 March 1936) was a Scottish
Life and career
Mackenzie was born in Cromarty, son of A.H. Mackenzie and Isobel Mackay.[1] He became a journalist in Glasgow and in 1903 moved to Dingwall as owner and editor of The North Star.[2] His next move, in 1910, was to the People's Journal in Dundee. From 1916 he represented the Glasgow paper, The Bulletin, in Edinburgh. As well as writing books, articles and poems, he often gave lectures, and also broadcast talks on Celtic mythology. He was the friend of many specialist authorities in his areas of interest. His older brother was William Mackay Mackenzie, Secretary of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland between 1913 and 1935. He died in Edinburgh on 2 March 1936 and was buried in Cromarty.
Theories
Neolithic matriarchy
In one of his key works, Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe (1917), Mackenzie argued that across Europe during Neolithic times, pre-Indo-European societies were matriarchal and woman-centered (gynocentric), where goddesses were venerated but that the Bronze Age Indo-European patriarchal ("androcratic") culture supplanted it. Mackenzie's matristic theories were notably influential to Marija Gimbutas.[3] He also believed that the Neolithic matriarchy was as far north as Scotland, writing an article in the Celtic Review called "A Highland Goddess" attempting to trace the very early presence of goddess worship.[4]
Buddhist diffusionism
Mackenzie was a
- The Gundestrup bowl"on which the Celtic god, Cernunnos, is postured like a typical Buddha".
- Gaulish coins with seated figures like Buddha.
- The testimony of Asoka, who launched Buddhist activities into Europe.
- Origen's statement of Buddhist doctrines in ancient Britain.
The work received a mixed reception. Professor of Philosophy Vergilius Ferm reviewed the work positively, but other scholars criticised it for its lack of evidence.[7][8]
Racial origin of British
This section has an unclear citation style. (January 2024) |
In 1922, Mackenzie published Ancient Man in Britain, a work covering the history of Britain from
According to Mackenzie, the Aurignacian and Solutrean peoples of Britain traded in shells with Cro-Magnons of France. They later intermingled with later arriving
Mackenzie believed that these Mediterraneans who colonised parts of Britain survived well into later historic periods (p. 118) and that the Mediterranean race in general was the bulk racial stock of Britain from Paleolithic through to the Neolithic and to more recent periods. They had black or brown hair, and swarthy skin "like those of the Southern Italians" (p. 126) and have survived in numerous pockets of Britain to the modern day (p. 139) despite that the later Anglo-Saxon and Norse settlement, who were fairer in appearance, Mackenzie believed their genetic input or admixture was very limited but that they subjugated the British imposing a new civilization and culture (p. 227).
Works
- Elves and Heroes (1909) (tales and poems)
- Finn and his warrior band;: Or, Tales of old Alban (1911)
- The khalifate of the West (1911)
- Indian Myth and Legend (1912)
- Teutonic Myth and Legend (1912, 2nd Ed. 1934)
- Donald Alexander, Mackenzie (1913). Indian myth and legend. Gresham, London.
- Egyptian Myth and Legend (1913)
- Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria (1915); online editions: gutenberg.org, sacred-texts.com, wisdomlib.org
- Indian Fairy Stories (1915)
- Brave deeds of the War (1915)
- Heroes and Heroic Deeds of the Great War (1915)
- Great deeds of the Great war (1916)
- Stories of Russian Folk-Life (1916)
- Lord Kitchener, the story of his life and work (1916)
- From all the Fronts (1917)
- Wonder tales from Scottish Myth and Legend (1917)
- Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe (1917)
- The World's Heritage of Epical, Heroic And Romantic Literature Volume I (1918)
- The World's Heritage of Epical, Heroic And Romantic Literature Volume II (1919)
- Sons & daughters of the Motherland (1919)
- The Story of the Great War (1920)
- Sons & daughters of Canada (1920)
- Ancient Man in Britain (1922)
- Myths of Pre-Columbian America (1924)
- Tales from the Northern Sagas (1926)
- The Gods of the Classics (1926)
- The Story of Ancient Crete (80-page booklet, 1927)
- The Story of Ancient Egypt (80-page booklet, 1927)
- The Story of Ancient Babylonia and Assyria (80-page booklet, 1927)
- Buddhism in Pre-Christian Britain (1928)
- Myths of China and Japan (1924, 2nd Ed. 1930)
- Tales from the Moors and the Mountains (1931)
- Ancient England (pamphlet, 1931)
- Myths and Traditions of the South Sea Islands (1931)
- The Migration of Symbols and their Relations to Beliefs and Customs (1926)
- Footprints of Early Man (1927)
- Ancient civilizations from the earliest times to the birth of Christ (1927)
- Burmese Wonder Tales (1929)
- Scotland: the ancient kingdom (1930)
- Some Makers of History (1930)
- Myths from Melanesia and Indonesia (1930, 2nd Ed. 1933)
- Scottish folk-lore and folk life (1935)
- Songs of the Highlands and the islands (1936)
Biography
- The Scotsman, 3 March 1936
See also
- Lewis Spence
- David MacRitchie
- John Stuart Stuart-Glennie
- Gundestrup cauldron
- John Rhys
- Scottish pork taboo
References
- ^ http://www.ambaile.org/en/literary-landscapes/intermediate.jsp?LiteraryLandscapeID=93[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://www.ambaile.org/en/literary-landscapes/intermediate.jsp?LiteraryLandscapeID=93[permanent dead link]
- ^ "The gods and goddesses of Old Europe: 7000 to 3500 BC myths, legends and cult images" , University of California Press, 1974, p. 262.
- ^ A Highland Goddess, Donald A. Mackenzie, The Celtic Review, Vol. 7, No. 28, Jan., 1912, pp. 336–345.
- ^ The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 46, Part 1, 1926, p. 139.
- ^ Review: Buddhism in Pre-Christian Britain by Vergilius Ferm, International Journal of Ethics Vol. 39, No. 3, April 1929, pp. 357–358.
- ^ Ferm, 1929, p. 358.
- ^ Harold H. Bender, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 33, No. 3, Jul. – Sep., 1929, p. 457.