Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail
Kenneth Mackenzie, the first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail (c. 1569 – 1611), was a Highland clan chief who secured for himself and his heirs the entirety of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and successfully pursued a bloody feud with the Macdonells of Glengarry.
Origins
Mackenzie was the son of
Political advancement
On 9 November 1594, soon after his father's death, Mackenzie made oath in presence of the
Under date of 18 February 1595 – 1596, there is an entry in the records of the Privy Council that Kenneth Mackenzie of Kintail "being elected and chosen to be one of the ordinary members" of the Council, and being personally present, makes faith and gives oath in the usual manner. Mackenzie's connections to central government were to prove invaluable to him in the turbulent times that lay ahead. He proved himself to be a masterful political operator but even he had to deal with potentially serious setbacks and the Privy Council's records show that he was on at least one occasion imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle.
Mackenzie was one of the eight Lesser Barons who constituted the Lords of the Articles in the Scottish Parliament which met for the first time on 17 June 1609. Although he was raised to the peerage on 19 November 1609, by the title of Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, he was not so designated in the Privy Council Records until 31 May 1610, when the patent of his creation was read and received by their Lordships, and he was thereupon acknowledged to be a free baron in all time coming. Mackenzie's peerage accompanied his final triumph in his long campaign for the Isle of Lewis.
The conquest of Lewis
Mackenzie's greatest opportunity arose from an internecine struggle within the Macleods of Lewis. Roderick "Old Ruari" Macleod of Lewis (c.1500-c.1595) divorced his wife, Janet (the daughter of John Mackenzie 9th of Kintail and therefore Kenneth Mackenzie's great-aunt), and disowned his son by her, Torquil Cononach Macleod. By another wife, Roderick had another son, Torquil Dubh Macleod. After Roderick's death, Torquil Dubh retained Lewis, but Torquil Cononach (who had the support of central government) held the mainland Macleod estates at Coigach and Loch Broom. Torquil Cononach had no sons. His daughter and co-heir, Margaret, married Mackenzie's brother, Roderick (progenitor of the Earls of Cromartie), and the Mackenzies accordingly took up his cause against Torquil Dubh.
In 1596/7, Mackenzie complained to the
However, a new obstacle to Mackenzie's campaign of self-aggrandisement now arose. In 1598, Lewis was granted to the
At a meeting of the Privy Council, held at Edinburgh on 30 September 1605, Mackenzie received a commission to act for the King against Neil MacNeill of Barra, the Captain of Clanranald, and several other Highland and Island chiefs, who had "of late amassed together a force and company of the barbarous and rebellious thieves and limmers of the Isles," and with them entered Lewis, "assailed the camp of his Majesty's good subjects," and "committed barbarous and detestable murders and slaughters upon them." Mackenzie was in consequence commissioned to pursue these offenders with fire and sword, by sea or land. This was the beginning of Mackenzie's conquest of Lewis.
Mackenzie received another commission in Lewis on 1 September 1607 against Neil Macleod, another of Old Ruari's sons, who was conducting a guerilla campaign against the Fife adventurers and had recently captured the Castle of Stornoway. This commission was to continue in force for six months.
Mackenzie at one point succeeded in fortifying his rights under Torquil Cononach's resignation with a deed under the
Feud with the Macdonells of Glengarry
Mackenzie's feud with the
Meanwhile, Angus Macdonell, Younger of Glengarry, had conducted a raid on Mackenzie's homeland at Kintail, killing several and carrying away a large spoil of cattle. Armed with his commission and accompanied by a large force, Mackenzie defeated Macdonell at
Glengarry himself died the following year, in 1603. A cousin of his, Allan Dubh MacRanuil of Lundie committed one further great atrocity when he burned the church of Kilchrist in
Marriage and children
Mackenzie married, first, Ann Ross, daughter of George Ross of Balnagown and had:
- Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth, later became the first Earl of Seaforth
- Janet Mackenzie, who married Sir Donald Gorme Macdonald, 8th Laird of Sleat, 1st Baronet, son of Archibald Macdonald and Margaret Macdonald
- Sybella Mackenzie, who married Ian Mor Macleod of Macleod, 16th Chief
- Barbara Mackenzie, who married Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay
He married, secondly, Isobel Ogilvie, daughter of Sir Gilbert Ogilvie of Powrie and had:
- George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth, who subsequently became the second Earl of Seaforth
- Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscarden
- Simon Mackenzie of Lochallin or Lochalyne or Lochslin d. Jan. 1666, who married 6 May 1634 Elizabeth Bruce dau of Peter Bruce, Principal of St. Leonard's, son of Bruce of Fingask
Death
Mackenzie died on 27 February 1611. The Earl of Cromartie said of him that he "was truly of an heroic temper, but of a spirit too great for his estates, perhaps for his country, yet bounded by his station ..."
References
- MacKenzie, Alexander (1894). History of the Mackenzies. A. & W. Mackenzie.