Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay
Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay, 14th of Strathnaver (March 1591 – February 1649) was a Scottish soldier and member of
.Early life
Donald Mackay was the eldest son of Huistean Du Mackay, 13th of Strathnaver, and wife Lady Jane Gordon, eldest daughter of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, and second wife Lady Jean Gordon.[1]
Military career
Clan feuds in Scotland
Allan Cameron of
Between the years 1612 and 1623 a feud was fought between Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet who was tutor to his nephew the Earl of Sutherland, against the Earl of Caithness (chief of Clan Sinclair).[1] Gordon tried to get Donald Mackay to join him in his campaign against the Earl of Caithness, but Mackay took no part in it.[1]
In April 1616 Donald Mackay went to London with his uncle, Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet, and was knighted by the king.[2]
On 20 August 1623, Sir Donald McKay of Strathnaver was appointed by the Privy Council of Scotland a Justice of the Peace for Sutherland and Strathnaver.[1] On 11 November 1623 the inhabitants of Strathnaver petitioned to the Council through Mackay to be exempted from the prohibition to carry fire-arms, which had previously been passed against the inhabitants of the diocese of Caithness, and as such they had not been able to defend themselves against Sir Robert Gordon.[1]
Thirty Years' War
In 1626, Sir Donald Mackay embarked with 3000 men at
Civil War
In 1638, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose and the Lords Home, Boyd and Loudoun invited Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay to meet them and others to consider the religious troubles of the time and to sign the Covenant, which he did unwillingly, along with his son, John Mackay, Master of Reay, because of his long attachment to Charles I.[9] In 1644, like Montrose, Lord Reay again espouses the cause of Charles I of England in the English Civil War, and aided Lord Crawford for several months at the Siege of Newcastle, in the defence of the city against the Scots army.[9] When the town was captured by General Leslie, Lord Reay and Lord Crawford were sent as prisoners to Edinburgh Castle.[9] In 1645, following Montrose's victory at the Battle of Kilsyth, Lord Reay was liberated from imprisonment and returned home.[10] In January 1649, Charles I was executed.[11] Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay having fought for Charles I during the civil war was to be created Earl of Strathnaver but the royal patent was not completed and Reay went into exile in Denmark where he died in February 1649.[4]
Family
Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay, married firstly, in August 1610, Barbara, daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, Chief of Clan Mackenzie and had the following children:[1]
- Iye Mackay, died 1617.
- John Mackay, 2nd Lord Reay, 15th of Strathnaver, who succeeded his father.
- Hew Mackay, died unmarried before 1642.
- Lieutenant-Colonel Angus Mackay, progenitor of the Mackay of Melness branch of the clan.
- Jane Mackay, married William Mackay, 3rd of Bighouse.
- Mary Mackay, married Sir Roderick Macleod of Talisker, second son of Macleod of Macleod, chief of Clan MacLeod.
Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay married secondly in 1631 or before, Elizabeth Thomson, who died in about June 1637, leaving one daughter:
- Ann Mackay, who married Alexander Macdonald, brother of Sir James Macdonald, Chief of the Clan Macdonald of Sleat.
Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay married thirdly, a daughter of Francis Sinclair of Stirkoke, Caithness and had the following children:
- William Mackay, who married Ann, daughter of Colonel Hugh Mackayof Scoury.
- Charles Mackay, progenitor of the Mackay of Sandwood branch of the clan.
- Rupert Mackay, twin brother of Charles and who died unmarried.
- Margaret Mackay, who died at Thurso, unmarried in 1720.
- Christian Mackay, who married Alexander Gunn of Killeranan, chieftain of the MacHamish Gunns of Clan Gunn.
Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay also married Rachel Winterfield or Harrison, sometime before 1631, but this marriage was annulled.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mackay, Angus (1906). The Book of Mackay. George IV Bridge, Edinburgh: Norman MacLeod. pp. 123–143.
- ^ Mackay, Robert (1829), p. 192.
- ^ Mackay, Robert (1829), p. 220.
- ^ a b c Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). pp. 224 - 225.
- ^ Mackay, Robert (1829), pp. 237–238.
- ^ Mackay, Robert (1829), pp. 245–246.
- ^ Mackay, Robert (1829), pp. 246–250.
- ^ Mackay, Robert (1829), pp. 270–272.
- ^ a b c Mackay, Robert (1829), p. 282.
- ^ Mackay, Robert (1829), pp. 308–309.
- ^ Mackay, Robert (1829), pp. 326–327.
Bibliography
- Mackay, Robert (1829). History of the House and Clan of Mackay. Edinburgh: Andrew Jack & Co.
- ISBN 0-00-470547-5.
- Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David, eds. (1990). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. New York: St. Martin's Press.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page[usurped]