HOW ROSS MET CROMARTY[The following interesting article I found in the Summer 2007edition of the Newsletter, Tulach Ard, of the Clan MackenzieSociety in Australia Inc. It will be seen that this was pickedup in the Wester Ross Life magazine. Once again the firstearl of Cromartie comes in for a bit of savage criticism. Imust admit I like this man. He was a true and wily politicianof his age but highly intelligent and learned. I think it is timeto put him in a more reasonable and kinder light. So readthis article and then let us have a go at restoring his reputa-tion with the help of Christopher Whatley, Professor ofScottish History, University of Dundee. Alan McKenzie.]

Of all the counties in Scotland, the two which arenow united as Ross and Cromarty were, in theirday, possibly the most illogical subdivision of land inthe history of Scottish political life. Until a hundredyears ago, the map of the north showed an apparentlycrazy hotchpotch of bits and pieces of land scatteredabout today’s District: some marked Ross and somemarked Cromarty. The fact of the matter was that it

Clan MacKenzie Societyin the Americas

Cabar FeidhThe Canadian Chapter Magazine

March 2008 ISSN 1207-7232

Cabar Feidh Newsletter: Members who wish to write to the Society with contributions to the Newsletter please send submissions to The Editor,Clan MacKenzie Society, 580 Rebecca St., Oakville, ON L6K 3N9. or e-mail to alan@mkz.comClan Web Pages: www.clanmackenzie.com & www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie

In This Issue:Ross met Cromarty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Mackenzies of Fawley Court & Farr . . . . . . . . . 5Ship Hector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Obituary: Dr Robert Blakely McKenzie . . . . . . 10Of Skeletons, Stories and Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Castle Leod Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12New Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Battle of Culloden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Genealogical Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Roddy MacKenzie’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Seaforth Highlanders Patrons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Genetic Mutations & Human Diversity . . . . . . 15The Other Rob Roy Macgregor . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Mackenzie DNA Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

George Mackenzie, first earl of Cromartie (1630-1714), after Sir JohnBaptiste de Medina - reproduced by permission , Scottish NationalPortrait Gallery, in Professor Whatley’s book, The Scots and the Union.

was, indeed crazy. For Cromarty never had any politi-cal rhyme or reason. What it did have, associated withits origin as a county, was the ambition of one notori-ous landowner with an urge to make a name for him-self.

Ross-shire.The story of Ross and Cromarty is one of an ancient

land, Ross, which for centuries covered the area servedby today’s district council as well as the areas of South-West-Ross and Lewis, and of the hitherto-unrecog-nised county of Cromarty, which came into being in1698 at the wish of one ambitious man, GeorgeMackenzie, landowner, grandson of the Tutor ofKintail, and soon-to-be first Earl of Cromartie. Theancient province of Ross had by then long been recog-nised. The land which is now Wester Ross was, untilthe 13th century, part of the huge territory of “NorthArgyle”. It is thought that the Gaelic name Rois (mean-ing a headland) was first applied to the main promon-tories on the east coast around the Black Isle, and thencame to be extended across the whole region to thewest coast. In 1226 Farquhard, abbot of Applecross,was created the first Earl of Ross. As the power of theearls grew, Ross came to be extended to the west coastto include those lands of North Argyle stretching fromGlenelg up to Sutherland.

After the fall of the Vikings in 1266, Ross againexpanded, with the incorporation of Skye and Lewis.When, in1292, the Sheriffdom of Skye was erected byKing John Balliol, it included the lands of the “Earl ofRos in North Argail”. Skye thereafter became for atime a part of the separate Lordship of the Isles, but bythe 15th century had been again incorporated into thelands of Ross when the Earls of Ross became alsoLords of the Isles. The last Earl of Ross, John, who wasalso Lord of the Isles, forfeited the earldom in 1476 forplotting against the Scottish crown. He was meantimeallowed to remain Lord of the Isles, but that title in turnwas extinguished in 1493 as the King sought to bringthe Highlands and Islands under control. Two and ahalf centuries of the Earls of Ross, though, had left alegacy in that the name of Ross had become firmlyattached to the whole area now know as Ross andCromarty.

After the Ross earls came the MacKenzie chiefs.The MacKenzies have dominated the history of WesterRoss since the days of Kenneth, first chief of Kintail,

who lived at the same time - the late twelfth century -as William, third earl of Ross. The MacKenzies wereoriginally vassals to the Ross Earls.

Kenneth died in 1304. His descendant, Alexander,who was chief of Kintail in the 15th century and diedat the age of 90 in 1488, is considered as the father ofthe several main lines of MacKenzie which flourishedafterwards. It was his three sons who would become,respectively, considered as the founders of three greatMacKenzie lines: the Kintail, the Gairloch, and theHilton MacKenzies. A century later, in 1609, anotherKenneth was created the first Lord MacKenzie ofKintail. His son Colin was created the first Earl ofSeaforth, in 1623. The name Seaforth, like that ofMacKenzie, thereafter went hand-in-hand with the his-tory of Wester Ross.

The Earls of Seaforth.Colin MacKenzie took his title from Loch Seaforth,

in Lewis, which island had recently been granted to theMackenzies of Kintail after an unsettled period inLewis’s history. The Seaforth title continued all-pow-erful in Ross-shire through four more generations untilfalling into difficulties after the 1715 rebellion when,as a result of Seaforth’s participation, the fifth earl’sestates were forfeited. In one of the celebrated storiesfrom clan history, his clansmen then stayed loyal tohim and continued to pay him rent during the forfei-ture, eventually enabling the Kintail Mackenzies to re-purchase their property. The earldom was never to berestored, however.

During the heyday of the Seaforths, Ross-shire’splace on the map was recognised when the first mem-ber of parliament for the county of Ross-shire wasreturned. In 1661 the political boundaries of the areawere re-drawn. It was then that Ross-shire andInverness-shire took shape which they would retain forcenturies. Skye, Harris and the southern Hebrides weremade a part of Inverness-shire while Lewis remainedin Ross. The Earl of Seaforth at the time insisted thatthe county boundaries of Ross should continue toinclude his own estate of Kintail, with the strongholdof Eilean Donan Castle, rather than surrender it tocounty of Inverness as was being mooted. Kintail andGlenshiel therefore remained a part of Ross-shire,carving a long wedge out of the shire of Inverness. Theold parishes of Lochalsh, Kintail and Glenshiel onlyceased to be part of Ross and Cromarty in 1975, when

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they were absorbed by the newSkye and Lochalsh District, buttheir Ross-shire connection lives onin the name of South-west Ross,still commonly used.

The New County ofCromartie.

Enter, in the late seventeenthcentury, one George MacKenzie...

As the MacKenzies had spreadand flourished throughout Ross-shire, different branches of the orig-inal line had become powerful fam-ilies in their own right. LocalMacKenzie chiefs held sway intheir own lands of Gairloch,Applecross, Dundonnel.

Coigach, however, along withother detached pockets of WesterRoss, was just a part of a swathe ofestates throughout Ross-shire heldby another MacKenzie who wasrapidly rising to prominence.George MacKenzie was the grand-son of the celebrated tutor ofKintail, Roderick, who had wieldedgreat influence in the Seaforth fam-ily during his life. The seat of theSeaforth line had by then long beenestablished at Brahan, nearStrathpeffer, but their most famousstronghold remained Eilean DonanCastle, on the Kintail lands.

Roderick had been personallygranted land near Brahan, to thenorth of Strathpeffer, where heestablished Castle Leod. His grand-son inherited this property and tookhis first title of Sir GeorgeMacKenzie of Castle Leod. As hebegan to find recognition from theking for his various services, hebecame in turn Lord MacKenzie ofTarbat - Tarbat being one of hisestates further east - before gaininghis final rank, for which he used histitle to the lands of Cromartie.

By the end of the 17th centuryGeorge MacKenzie had inheritedlands throughout Ross-shire,extending west as far as Coigachand the Summer Isles. Already infavour at court, where incidentallyhe was one of the very few Scotswho championed the unionbetween Scotland and England,MacKenzie now began to schemeto gain new grandeur. He pressed acase for having his own scatteredlands recognised as a separatecounty, of which he would bedeemed earl. There was, by anystandard, no rhyme or reason to itexcept MacKenzie’s desire forstature. He was, however, in a posi-tion to manipulate. The historianBain interpreted MacKenzie'sthinking:

“Here was the nucleus of an earl-dom, a dignity fairly well within hisreach; as counties went it was certain-ly small, but what was there to hinder apast master in the art of intrigue, as heknew himself to be, having his otherestates detached from the wide shireof Ross and added thereto.?”*

In 1698 MacKenzie succeeded.The county of Cromartie wasrecognised. Five years later,MacKenzie succeeded in beingmade Earl of Cromartie, the Actrecognising the new Earldom beingdrawn up by the Lord ClerkRegister in Edinburgh, who wasnone other than the Earl ofCromartie.

And so the deed was done! Thecounty of Cromarty was a strangemixture of all MacKenzie’s differ-ent estates. They included, inWester Ross, the Summer Isles,Coigach, Leckmelm and lands onthe south side of Loch Broom; inmid-Ross, Strathpeffer; and the var-

ious family lands in Easter Ross,including Cromarty, Tarbat Ness,and Portmahomack.

The new county thereafter con-tinued to exist separately fromRoss-shire for two centuries. Andeven when the old political entity ofRoss-shire was effectively restoredin 1891, the name of Cromarty wasrecognised in the new name.

Testimony to the power misusedby one man.

Perhaps the most ironic outcomeof the saga of Ross-shire is the dif-ference in the fate of the SeaforthMacKenzies and of the CromartieMacKenzies. For it is the presentEarl of Cromartie who now claimsthe nominal title of chief of theClan MacKenzie. The Seaforths arelong gone.

Post Script: The end of theSeaforths.

While there is surely too muchfalse “romance” associated with thehistory of this part of the world, itdoes still seem poignant to tracehow fortune treated two long linesof once-powerful families in Ross.

Both the Seaforth and theCromarty earldoms were attaintedafter, respectively, the 1715 and1745 rebellions. The Cromartieseventually won back their full title,despite having to wait more than acentury after the ’45, until 1861, todo so.

The Seaforth line was neverrestored. Kenneth MacKenzie, sonof the last (fifth) Earl of Seaforth,managed to re-purchase theSeaforth lands and remained chiefof the MacKenzies, officially theeighth Lord MacKenzie of Kintail.He regained the favour of the crownsufficient to win the title of LordFortrose. His son, in turn, won

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recognition for the Seaforth name in1771, when he wascreated Earl of Seaforth. This was, however, a titleaccorded under the Irish peerage. And with his death in1781 came the extinction of the earldom.

The last of the Seaforths was Francis HumberstonMacKenzie, who bought the family estates from theson of the above in 1782. He was created LordSeaforth and Lord MacKenzie of Kintail in 1797, thesebeing specially created “British” titles. With his deathin 1815, even these titles became extinct.

Wester Ross Life*Bain: “History of the Ancient Province of Ross”

It must be admitted that the odd collection of lands com-

prising the former County of Cromarty does look very odd.The eventual merging together again of the two counties tobecome Ross and Cromarty at least preserved theCromarty name, and as a Mackenzie I am pleased aboutthat. We hardly want Clan Ross crowing that it was theircounty!

The comment in the article that “it is the present Earl ofCromartie who now claims the nominal title of chief of theClan MacKenzie”. Not only was it claimed by the father ofthe present Chief but it was recognised formally by LordLyon, the last word in these matters. The Cromartie linewere close kinsmen of the now extinct Seaforth line.

I could also take issue regarding the Earls of Ross andLords of the Isles comments. Suffice it to say that the defeatof the powerful Macdonald Lords of the Isles at the Battle ofthe Park around 1482 by the Mackenzies was the main rea-son why the Macdonald lost their titles and influence andfrom that time the Mackenzie clan rose to great prominence,

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This copy from an old map of Scotland shows the vast area of Ross-shire, together with the strange bits and pieces of the Cromarty County lands.Top left shows the largest slice of land, that of Coigach, which contains the town of Ullapool. To the south lie two smaller parcels of land in theparish of Lochbroom. Then another property a little further east by Loch Fannich. The eastern lands include Ben Wyvis and the small town ofFodderty and that would include Castle Leod. The Easter Ross properties of Tarbat Ness and Cromarty are also marked.

gaining much of the lands previously controlled by the Lordsof the Isles, being gifted to the Mackenzies by the king.

Now we come to the comment that the first Earl ofCromartie was “one of the very few Scots who championedthe union between Scotland and England.” If that wasmeant to be a criticism then it is a strange one. The unionenabled an impoverished nation to help lead one of themightiest empires the world has seen. Just look at the num-ber of British prime ministers (including the last two) withScottish names.

Professor Whatley makes it clear in his book, “The Scotsand the Union”, that both England and Scotland were veryconcerned about the power of France - then the mightiestnation - involving themselves with Scotland to bring RomanCatholicism back to Britain. No one can accuse the ScottishPresbyterians of being friendly to the Catholic religion.There was a strong body of opinion that Scotland andEngland should unite.

Here is what Professor Whatley says: “Cromartie wasone of the country’s elder statesmen by the beginning of theeighteenth century. He was well-liked (although not by hisenemies) if not always trusted, having a reputation for polit-ical slipperiness. Critics have found it hard to explain whyCromartie and his fellow episcopalian noblemen from thenorth-east supported union, other than through politicalpressure exercised by the court, including financial pay-ments. Yet Cromartie knew Scotland well, and appears tohave had genuine concerns about what he saw as its lowcondition. Moral degeneracy was partly the cause (hethought), but he recognised too the damage that was doneby faction-fighting. Over a period of years from at least asearly as 1702, Cromartie wrote some telling treatises advo-cating incorporating union, not least because he saw majoreconomic advantages for Scotland in a united British king-dom.”

In securing a British united kingdom, Whatley refers toCromartie as being more explicit in his commitment, “prob-ably the most ardent British Scottish politician of the period,whose investigation into Scotland’s condition had causedhim to lose faith in an independent Scotland: ‘May we beBrittains’, Cromartie urged in 1706, and drop the ‘ignomin-ious’ names of Scotland and England; ‘Brittains is our true,our honorable denomination.’”

On the subject of trade and the wretched condition ofScotland and in particular the heavy illicit trade of importedgoods, it was noted by John Clerk that such branches oftrade were the ruin of the country. Foreign silks, calicoesand linen manufactures “were never more frequently worn”,protested a group of Edinburgh merchants.

The earl of Cromartie was probably the most savage crit-ic of his luxury-loving countrymen: he regretted what he sawas the loss of “old Scots manhood” to “exotic effeminacy”, anation of “pemping parasites” whose love of London tavernsand play houses, “childish clothings and superfluous furni-ture” along with an inclination to “live above our fortunes”and “get into employments and live on the spoils of publicmoney” were indicative of national “degeneracie”.

Here is another quote from “The Scots and the Union”:

“Much better known for his vociferous sponsorship ofincorporation in the interests of Scotland’s economy was theearl of Cromartie who, like Paterson, had experienced firsthand the economic and social trials and tribulations anddashed hopes of the pre-union years. An enthusiastic pro-moter of Scottish enterprise abroad, including the Darienscheme, Cromartie (at that time, lord Tarbat) was involvedwith abortive plans for manufacturing glass and linen as wellas to establish a herring fishery at Ullapool. It is entirely con-ceivable that this, rather than, to at least in addition to,Cromartie’s lifelong and quite understandable habit of keep-ing his political options open (he had learned early on thecost of royal rejection), provides part of the explanation whythis learned and wily and tenacious political operator, whowas at the forefront of estate improvement in the north,hadbegun to advocate incorporation as early as 1702. Union,had concluded by 1705, following a searching critique of thefailings of Scottish government and most of the country’spolitical leaders , would ‘not only be the best but the speed-iest if not the only remedy’ for most of the country’s prob-lems.”

THE MACKENZIESOF FAWLEY COURT AND FARR

Those members who have a copy of AlexanderMackenzie’s huge volume “History of theMackenzies” (and since we have sold almost 500 ofthese books, that must include many of our readers)will know that there are several major families ofMackenzies listed with detailed genealogies. Nearly allof these landed families in Scotland were related toeach other very many times over and had lines con-necting them to the chiefs of the clan.

The last family to be listed in the book (page 620) isthe important family, the Mackenzies of Fawley Courtand Farr. Strangely despite the family’s great wealththere is no connection shown with the other landedfamilies. However we have been in touch with a mem-ber of the family who claims that he is a direct maledescendant of one of the lairds of Fawley Court andFarr, and more importantly, from our perspective, hasjoined our DNA project. Furthermore he sent us sever-al additional pieces of information of the familyincluding a family tree which shows a direct male linegoing back to the Mackenzie Chief Colin “Cam”Mackenzie of Kintail who died in1594. If this geneal-ogy is accurate then our DNAproject will have a defin-itive DNA for the main male line of Mackenzie chiefs.This will be the second claimant with such a line and itwill be interesting to see if these DNA results match,which they should.

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The story of the Mackenzies ofFawley Court and Farr is extremelyinteresting. Below you will get animmediate introduction to the LateColin Mackenzie, whose life wasreported in The Times newspaperfor November 10, 1999 followinghis death.

But there is a lot more of interestto this extraordinarily successfulfamily. We are including some ofthis as it is almost certainlyunknown to most members of theclan.

So let us look at ColinMackenzie first.

“MAJOR COLIN MACKENZIE

FOR a brief but spectacular peri-od in 1973, Colin Mackenziewas one of the rebel directors ofLonrho who attempted to oust thetycoon Tiny Rowland from thecompany he had founded. Knownas the “straight eight”, they wereoutraged at the business methods ofthe man later described by Edward

Heath as “the unacceptable face ofcapitalism”. After a bitter court-room battle, the group was outma-noeuvred, but Rowland never suc-ceeded in shaking off the taint ofcorruption which it had exposed.

Celebrated as this episode was,it was perhaps less important inMackenzie’s life than the little-known role he played during thewar behind the grim walls ofColditz Castle where, for fouryears, he was a prisoner of war. In1945 he was quietly appointedMBE. The citation, classified at thetime, confirms that he was one of a

small number of British prisoners-of-war sending back information onGerman dispositions and plannedescapes from Colditz to MI9, usinga coded system in letters to familyand friends.

Only one in a hundred Sandhurstofficers were selected for this dan-gerous but vital mission.Mackenzie himself would nevertalk about it, but at least one rela-

tive remembers being struck bystrangely detailed requests such as“do remember Mike’s birthday andsend him four blue handkerchiefs”.His work was commended by asenior officer in London, and thecitation says that “his constantcheerfulness and high moraleproved of the highest value to hisfellow prisoners of war”.

His surviving colleagues fromthe Colditz years knew nothing atthe time of his secret role. Theyremember a good-looking, quietyoung Scottish 2nd lieutenant - hewas only 21 when captured - in hisSeaforth Highlanders kilt, a man ofcast-iron loyalty who was “adelight to be with”. Aware of hisfamily estate in Inverness-shire,they called him “The Laird”.

He was always a dependable anddiscreet source of help in the courseof the many escape attempts forwhich Colditz was famous. He wasalso a war hero. In June 1940, nearSt Valéry, he was leading a patrolwhich came under Germanmachinegun fire. Together with aPrivate McLaughlin, Mackenziemoved his position deliberately tothe flank, exposing himself to viewand shouting orders to draw theattention of the enemy while theremainder of the patrol withdrew.For this he was awarded theMilitary Cross.

Later, when the 51st HighlandDivision was surrounded andforced to surrender at St Valéry,Mackenzie was knocked uncon-scious by a bullet which struck hishelmet. He refused to be evacuated,and was taken prisoner. He attempt-ed to escape with another officer ina rubbish cart from the Germancamp at Tittmoning but was caughtand was transferred to Colditz,where he spent the rest of the war,

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Major Colin Mackenzie, MBE, MC, soldier, landowner and business-man, died at Inverness on October 1, 1999, aged 80. He was born at

Fawley, near Henley, on March 23, 1919.

despite several escape attempts. Hewas released by American forces onApril 16, 1945.

Though born in England, ColinDalziel Mackenzie spent much ofhis childhood at Balmoral wherehis father was commissioner for theroyal estate under George V. On thedeath of his great-grandfather, hemoved to the family estate of Farrin Inverness-shire, of which hehimself would become laird.Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, hejoined the 2nd Battalion theSeaforth Highlanders in 1939, andwas posted to Fort George, wherethere was a call for one of two offi-cers to join the battalion in France.Mackenzie spun a coin with a fel-low-subaltern and won.

After the war he became ADC toField Marshal Wavell, Viceroy ofIndia, in 1945, and he was laterdeputy military secretary, It wasthere that he met Anne Fitz Roy,daughter of the 10th Duke ofGrafton, and they were married in1947 at her family home at Eustonin Norfolk. He became a seniortrustee of the Euston Estates.

In 1951 Mackenzie began a var-ied business career, which includedinvolvement with bus company inOxfordshire, a chemical firm inLockerbie, and elsewhere cattle,salmon nets, printing and heli-copters. It was while he was work-ing for the mining company ofWilloughbys in Northern Rhodesiathat he first came across TinyRowland. Willoughbys was boughtby Lonrho and Mackenzie becamea director. He admired Rowland’sbuccaneering spirit, and Rowlandin turn respected his transparentintegrity.

But the revelation that Rowlandhad arranged for secret payments to

Lonrho’s chairman, DuncanSandys, via an offshore fund,shocked Mackenzie and led to hisjoining the rebel group. It was withrelief that he left the company torun the estate at Farr.

He was a member of the Queen’sBodyguard and the Royal Companyof Archers, and a major in theTerritorial Army. A county council-lor for Inverness-shire, he served asVice-Lord-Lieutenant of the coun-ty, and helped many local causes,including raising funds to rescuethe delightful little church atDaviot, where his own funeral ser-vice took place.

He was an accomplished anglerand a fine shot, and was never hap-pier than on the hill at Farr, particu-larly during the years when theplace was teeming with grouse. Tosee him striding across the heatherwith a gun under his arm, or castinga long line on the Spey or theFindhorn - and then to think of hissoldiering background - was tocatch a glimpse of the characterJohn Buchan might have had inmind when he wrote Greenmantle.

A man of great charm and strik-ing good looks, he was one of thatdisappearing breed of Scottish lairdwho recognised the responsibilitiesof landowning, and were greatlyloved by those who worked forthem. He endured a long and frus-trating illness without complaint.

He is survived by his wife Anne,and by a son and three daughters.”

Brian Usill, who, as mentionedhas joined the Mackenzie DNAproject as a direct descendant of theMackenzies of Fawley Court andFarr got in touch with the clangenealogist, Graeme Mackenzie(who just happens to be my 4th

cousin!) Here is a portion of the let-ter Graeme sent to Brian Usill:

“The main problem in tracing thedescent of your line is the confusion ofplaces called Muirton and of M'kenziefamilies who were lairds of such places(I spell M'kenzie thus incidentally as invirtually all families there is likely tohave been more than one spelling ofthe name over the centuries, and thisis a good "neutral" form in relation tothe most usual variations - and theones that get people most worked up ifyou use what they think is the wrongone --i.e. Mackenzie/MacKenzie/McKenzie)

“The key to the puzzle is the factthat the Muirton where your ancestorAlexander the canal builder was bornin c.1752 (in Strathconon, to the westof Muir of Ord) was previously calledWester Fairburn, and had its namechanged because Alexander's father,also Alexander, had previously beenthe laird of Muirton/Muirtown of Kilcoy(in the Black Isle to the east of Muir ofOrd). Though this Muirton is some-times helpfully called Muirtown ofFairburn, it is very often just calledMuirton - as sometimes is Muirtown ofKilcoy - so you can see the first caus-es of confusion.

“There is similar scope for confu-sion when looking at the different fam-ilies associated with these places atdifferent times. So we have theM'kenzies of Fairburn (descendants ofRory "Mor" of Achilty); and the laterM'kenzies of Muirton (a branch of theGairloch family), who were able toacquire Muirton and neighbouringMeikle Scatwell from the female heirsof your ancestors; as well as theM'kenzies of Muirton (of Kilcoy) whoare the family we are looking for. Theywere a branch of the M'kenzies ofKilcoy, and once one discovers thatthen all becomes clear - as demon-strated on the enclosed tree - and therelevant detailed information can befound in Alexander Mackenzie's"History of the Mackenzies" (1894)under M'kenzies of Kilcoy (pages 581-2) and M'kenzies of Fawley Court andFarr (pages 620-5).

“I hope you can make sense of allthis, and I'd be delighted to have

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details of how you fit into the tree (Irecall you telling me that you were [adescendant] of one of the Farr family.................). I wonder, since you hadnot been able to establish how thefamily connected to the rest of the clan,if Philip Mackenzie "of Farr" (do thefamily still own the estate?) might alsoappreciate a copy of this; ................

“Please feel free to follow this up

with any questions that may arise; andI look forward to the chance of dis-cussing it all in person again at somefuture gathering of the clan.”

The family of the Mackenzies ofFawley Court and Farr are one ofthe most successful Mackenzie

families having been senior engi-neers, being responsible for thedevelopment of the French railwaysystem.

Here are a couple of extractssent to us with gives more insightinto this remarkable family.

Extract from Steam Trains of theWorld. by Bill Hayes, published byAlbany Books of 36, Park Street,LONDON WIY 4DE.page 91 The French Connection;

“Initially, rail development in Francemoved slowly, and by 1850 the countrycould boast only 1927 miles of track,compared to 6600 miles in Britain and3700 miles in Germany. The Frenchhad little money or engineering exper-tise and were required to import all ormost of their railway hardware andknow-how from Britain. In 1845, forexample, Joseph Locke, an Englishengineer, was appointed to build theParis to Rouen and Rouen to Le Havrerailways. Two of Locke's engineers,Budicom and Allcard, transferred theirnewly established locomotive works

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Brian Usill (right) with his wife and birth mother and her other son.

A 1986 letter sent by Major Colin Mackenzie to Brian Usill.

from Warrington and set up one ofEurope's most important engine worksin Chartreux. Locke also imported5000 English navvies, who enjoyed thesame level of notoriety as they wereused to in Britain. The local Frenchpopulace would make pilgrimages tothe construction sites to watch theseEnglishmen work. They soon lost theirpopularity, however, when theBerentine Viaduct collapsed in 1846,shortly before it was completed.Nevertheless, the construction compa-ny of BRASSEY AND MACKENZIE,which employed all these navvies, hadbeen responsible for building 75 percent of the French railway system by1897.”

*********************** Obituary of Edward. Mackenzie, ofFawley Court, from the AnnualRegister for 1880.

Edward Mackenzie, of FawleyCourt, Henley-on-Thames, died onSeptember 27th. I880, at the age of 70.He was the youngest son of the lateMr. Alexander Mackenzie, C.E. ofFairburn, in Ross-shire, and was twicemarried; first to a Miss Dalziel, of TheCraigs, County Dumfries; and second-ly, to Miss Ellen Mullett, who surviveshim. He left behind him a colossal for-tune, made as a civil engineer andcontractor. He was a man of mark inconnection with his elder brother, thelate Mr. William Mackenzie, and thelate Mr. Brassey, in the early and palmydays of the railways, they being con-tractors for gigantic works in Franceand England. They were all men ofgreat administrative power. Mr.Mackenzie lived for a quarter of a cen-tury at Fawley Court, which estate hepurchased on retiring from business.The house was filled with valuablepaintings and. works of art. It was builtby Sir Christopher Wren after thedemolition of the former mansion dur-ing The Great Rebellion. Mr.Mackenzie was a magistrate anddeputy lieutenant of the county ofOxford, and served the office of highsheriff of that county in 1862-3. It hasalways been considered by those bestinformed on the subject that in thebiographies of Mr. Brassey some injus-tice has been done to the Mackenzies

in attributing to Mr. Brassey alone theskill and indomitable industry andenterprise which were characteristic ofthe Mackenzies, as well as of Mr.Brassey.

Incidentally Brian Usill tells us thathe is also connected through theUsill family to another prominentMackenzie family. He says in hisletter to me that “if you GoogleWalter Fawkes Mackenzie you willfind details of this man who mar-ried Frances Usill who was an auntof my dad’s”.

Here is what the AlexanderMackenzie book “History of theMackenzies” says about the found-ing families of the Mackenzies ofFawley Court and Farr:

THE MACKENZIES OFFAWLEY COURT AND FARR

I. Alexander Mackenzie, the firstof this remarkable family promi-nently known in the engineeringworld, was born at Wester Fairburn,in the county of Ross, on the 5th ofJune, 1769, and educated at theGrammar School, Inverness. Hejoined an old school-fellow, DavidMackintosh, a native of Cawdor,Nairnshire, as a firm of contractorsand engineers. They constructedseveral canals in England, and werevery successful. He married Mary,daughter of William Austin, fromher great beauty known as one ofthe “Lancashire Witches,” withissue -1. William, of whom presently.[Born 20th of March, 1794]2. Alexander, C.E., who was born atHollinwood, Lancashire, in 1796.He married, with issue - (1)William Seager, who married, first,a daughter of Thomas Woodhouse,

C.E., with issue; and secondly, adaughter of George Woodhouse,C.E. William was for many years acivil engineer in the employment ofthe Russian Government, and livedfor some time at Nyksa in thatcountry. He afterwards went toCanada, and died in London on the26th of February, 1887; (2)Kenneth, C.E., killed in a railwayaccident near Bordeaux, in France,unmarried; (3) Richard, C.E., whomarried his cousin, Eliza, daughterof John Griffith, and died atMontreal on the 16th of February,1887; (4) Alexander, C.E., who waskilled in a railway accident inCanada, without issue; (5) Mary,who married Mr Scott, in Canada.3. Daniel, who was born in 1799,and died in 1802.4. John, who was born on the 1st ofNovember, 1804, went to Virginiaas a planter, and died there, unmar-ried.5. David, born in 1807, and died in1811.6. Thomas, who was born in 1808,and died in 1811, the same day ashis brother, both being buried in thesame grave.7. Edward, from whom theMackenzies of Fawley Court, Farr,etc.8. Sarah, born in 1797, and diedunmarried.9. Margaret, who married JohnGriffith, with issue - (1) EdwardMackenzie, who settled in theUnited States, and married a daugh-ter of Colonel Campbell; (2)William Alexander, who settled inCanada and married a daughter ofMr Baldwin, Baldwin House,Boston, United States, withoutissue. He lives in Quebec. (3) Mary,who married Slack Davis, M.A., ofOxford, barrister-at-law, a well-known writer and poet in America,

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where he died on the 31st of March,1889; (4) Alice, who marriedThomas Musgrave, with issue; (5)Emily Mackenzie, who marriedJoseph William Painter, barrister,deceased, with issue - several sons,ranching near Denver, Colorado;(6) Harriet, who married WilliamJohnson Shaw, of Buenos Ayres,with issue; and (7) Eliza Ann, whomarried her cousin, RichardMackenzie, C.E., Montreal, abovementioned.10. Mary, born in 1814, and mar-ried James Barnard, shipowner,Greenock, without issue. She diedin 1875.11. Eliza, married AlexanderDuckworth, with issue.Alexander died on the 23rd ofFebruary, 1836, aged 66 years, hiswife having predeceased him on the8th of June, 1828. They were bothburied at Blackburn, Lancashire.He was succeeded as representativeof the family by his eldest son,II. William Mackenzie, afterwardsof Newbie, Dumfries-shire, and ofAuchenskeoch, County ofKirkcudbright, who was born atMarsden Chapel on the 20th of

March, 1794. He was a celebratedengineer, first beginning his careerunder David Mackintosh, hisfather’s partner. He subsequentlypractised his profession underTelford. He made his way veryrapidly, taking part in most of thegreat engineering works - rail-ways, canals, and bridges - of histime; and in the Shannon improve-ments, on which the Secretary forIreland complimented him in thehighest terms in the House ofCommons.............. [there follows alengthy resume of his achievements.Copies of the “History of theMackenzies” can be obtained fromour society at a cost of $80 seeaddress at foot of page 1 or emailus at alan@mkz.com]

A lengthy family tree sent toBrian Usill shows a deeper connec-tion with the landed families of theMackenzie Clan. It starts with :

Colin “Cam” Mackenzie ClanChief died 1594 = Barbara Grant ofFreuchie

IAlexander Mackenzie ofMuirtown of Kilcoy, [a younger

brother of the Seaforth andCromartie families] fl.1657-66 =Marie Cuthbert of Drakies.

IColin Mackenzie W.S. ofMuirtown of Kilcoy =Anna/Barbara Grant of Moyness.

IKenneth Mackenzie of Muirtownof Kilcoy = Mary Mackenzie ofCulen in 1724.

IAlexander Mackenzie ofMuirtown of Kilcoy = MargaretMackenzie of Highfield

This couple had five childrenand the third son was Alexander,the first person mentioned in the“History of Mackenzies” under theMackenzies of Fawley Court andFarr.

SHIP HECTOR LOG

The latest Log from the ShipHector Foundation reportedthat last July her main mast wasstruck by lightening during a vio-lent storm. No fire resultedalthough three sections of the mainmast need to be replaced. Luckilythe damage is covered by insuranceand the ship will be ready for the2008 season in Pictou Nova Scotia.

OBITUARYDR ROBERT BLAKELY

MCKENZIE

We have received a generousdonation of $500 from mem-ber Donald G.A. McKenzie, inmemory of his father, Dr Robert B.McKenzie. In his letter Donald tellsus that his father was an avid read-er of Cabar Feidh.

Here is an extract from his obit-uary in the newspaper:

McKenzie, Robert Blakely, MD- Born 16 May 1932 in Glasgow,

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“I Love a Lassie, a Bonny, Bonny Lassie”

Liz Kelly sent us this photo taken at the Clan picnic in 2005. On the left is Alan’s granddaughter,Delia and Liz’s kilted grandson, Kilian. Priceless!

Scotland. Died 16 September 2007in Toronto. Graduated in Medicinefrom Glasgow University. Servedin RAF as a Medical Officer inRheindahlen, West Germany.Immigrated to Canada in 1968 andworked in family medicine inToronto. Also served as MedicalOfficer with The Toronto ScottishRegiment and as CommandingOfficer of 25 Medical Company. Avolunteer with several charities,especially “Out of the Cold” and“Raise the Roof”. Aman of wisdomwith many talents and a zeal forlife, he played many different roles:poet, singer, actor, soldier, physi-cian and gardener but above all ahusband, father and grandfather. Hewas loved by all those who had thegood fortune to know him. Darlinghusband of Rita McKenzie (neeBurgoyne), beloved father andfather-in-law of Donald, Diane,Sandy and Deborah, and proudgrandfather of Malcolm, Simon andGillian. Kind and loving, gentle andgenerous, a giant in all our hearts.

OF SKELETONS, STORIES ANDSOIL

By A. Duncan L. James

Most families have a host ofstrange characters, odddoings and great personages locat-ed some place in their historicalcloset. The tale that follows detailsone of my family’s stories and howit has resolved itself just recently.

When I was a child, my grand-mother one day proudly announcedthat our family was related toScottish gentry. To “document” thisassertion, Granny produced a yel-lowing postcard from a relative I’dnever heard of, written in a hiero-

glyphic script I could not read, thatseemed to date to the Bronze Age.In this very brief missive, it wasstated that my father was directlylinked to the lairds of Gairloch, (aseat of the Mackenzie clan, as youprobably know.) At that time, ofcourse, I had difficulty picturing a“layered hair lock”, but once it hadall been explained to me, I gaspedin awe. (My father, however, took itall in stride. Perhaps he was moreused to the glitz of semi-royalty, Ireasoned…he was older, after all.)

In the over-active imagination ofan eight year old, this tidbit of newswas a veritable banquet for themind! Perhaps a red carpet wouldbe rolled out at my school once theyread about this in the paper, Ithought. I wondered if I would nowbe able to call the Queen … collect.Was I going to have to learn to playpolo, because if so, it was suregonna hurt if I fell off one of thosehorses. These and similar fanciestook hold of my brain, but I grewout of all that in time, of course.

When I was 17, my family and Ivacationed in Britain and one of ourstops was in fact the village ofGairloch. It was small - hardly thecapital of the empire I had pictured!I must admit, the romance of a con-nection to a Scottish laird still awedme somewhat, even then.

Alas, reality hit hard: for somereason, no one in Gairloch recog-nized us. We were not greeted in thestreets by the cheering throngs. Noparades were held in honour of ourhomecoming. We came, we saw, weleft. When we returned to Canada, Iwent about life just as commonpeople do. No empire, no castle, nored carpets even! Eventually, I tookmy “lairdly Mackenzieness” forgranted and remained happy in the

knowledge that I could lay claim toa rich Scottish heritage on bothsides of the family.

Still, there had been somethingspecial about the soil back inScotland; that dirt, those rocks, allthe burns and hills had once beentrodden by my ancestors! And thatwas important.

Some thirty years later, my wifeand I happened upon theMackenzie Clan tent at theMaxville Highland Games in thesummer of 2007. “Are you aMackenzie?” Commissioner AlanMcKenzie asked me. “My parentstell me I am!” I replied jokingly.After approximately 0.32 secondsof indecision, I decided to become amember of the Clan MacKenzieSociety and in doing so, I felt as if Iwere being re-united with my longlost family. It was great!

However, my words to Alan thatday haunted me later. You see, mysurname is not Mackenzie and I amunable to point to any distant UncleSo-and-so Mackenzie; beyond mylate Granny’s old allegation, therewas nothing to prove I was truly aMackenzie. It was all hearsay infor-mation.

A mini-crisis ensued: had I mis-takenly joined the Clan MacKenzieSociety? Of course, I never expect-ed to be ejected from the Society ifI were not a bona fide Mackenzie,but not knowing for certain rankled.At my insistence, my parents hunt-ed high and low for that ancientpost card of Granny’s, but it couldnot be found. Frantic calls went outto distant outposts of the family,again at my urging, but to no avail.Until, quite unexpectedly, an eightyyear-old second cousin living onthe Welsh border, mailed us a pho-tocopy of a letter to my grandmoth-

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er in 1938. I have transcribed partof that letter below:

1st Nov. 1938My dear Edie,I shall satisfy your interest in

your Scots’relations, for you knowthat both your maternal grandpar-ents were Scots. Your dear Mother’sFather, Colin MacKenzie Dick, hadas his Mother Isabella MacKenzieof Mountgerald, [?] Ross-shire.Her grandfather was the son of theVI Laird of Gairloch, and you canturn up the present Laird (SirHector MacKenzie, Br…[?]) andhave your Scots relationship backto the XII century!!. That is goodenough it is full of interest.

I am your older [?] cousin,A.A.Gordon

Here at last, was a Mackenzieconnection to me and my familysketched out! But was it true, Iwondered?

To find out, I turned to AlanMcKenzie's cousin, Graeme, agenealogist in Scotland. I sent theletter and tidbits of information tohim and he promptly replied that hewas able to draw definite familialconnections from those in the letterright back to the 6th Laird ofGairloch who died in 1669. Notonly that: it seemed I was connect-ed to the Lairds of Mountgerald toboot! Now, that was quite a rack ofbones in the closet!

Well, it never snows, but it bliz-zards! I was stunned that Granny’sfamily tale was so resoundinglyconfirmed. And, of course, I’m veryproud to be a “legitimate” memberof this ancient and proud race calledthe Clan Mackenzie.

Does this knowledge make a dif-ference to me? Yes and no. I can’tsay my lifestyle has changed much

and, of course, the Scottish heraldry‘thing’ no longer has any pull forme whatsoever. But I do havesomething many people crave: asense of where I came from andwhere I belong. I’m proud to saythat I have been to the place myancestors roamed and stepped onthe same soil. And that’s enough forme… That is, until I can find a gooddeal on a small roll of red carpet!!

Ed: Our thanks to Duncan for this arti-cle. We have a few in the clan thathave relationships with theMackenzies of Gairloch and also ofMountgerald. These families aredetailed in the History of theMackenzies by Alexander Mackenzie(published in 1894). We have copies ofthis large volume for sale in hardbackat $80 inclusive of postage. See bot-tom of page one for our address andsend a cheque payable to ClanMacKenzie Society if you want a copy- over 450 sold so far! No home shouldbe without one!

CASTLE LEODA BRIEF UPDATE

We have had a number of com-munication in recent monthswith Cabarfeidh on the status of theimportant and urgent castle repairs.What follows are some extracts.

“On the home front, the OldTower of the Castle is having anamazing face lift, courtesy of BillTaylor’s All Terrain Access. This isa large mobile crane with a workingplatform. All the upper levelstonework is being treated, repoint-ed, made safe, the vegetationremoved and stonework sprayed.Loose mortar or stone is beingremoved, skews recemented andloose slates replaced. It looks a lotbetter, will be more watertight andcosts are vastly less than if the samework was being done by scaffold-ing. His team are using a lime rich

mortar that is the same colour as thestonework and I think visitors willnotice the much improved appear-ance of the Castle. Angus, myhandyman is also replacing manyof the old sills in the interior withhigh quality treated wood so all inall, though it may not be the majorworks which are still in mind, it is alarge step forward in preserving thisfine and lovely old building. Thetotal cost of these repairs came tojust over £15,000 a huge saving onscaffolding alone which wouldhave been around £30,000. The OldTower has been treated on all itselevations including the three bat-tlements, window embrasures andthe lead replaced above the frontdoor. The firm also gave three freedays to the CMCT [ClanMackenzie Charitable Trust]. Ihope to employ them next year todo a check on the work done and topossibly rebuild the south chimney-head which was removed duringthe roof replacement in 1991.”

From another e-mail: “The next‘target” for 2008 is to restore thesouth elevation chimney head,taken down during the 1991 roofrestoration. I hope to use the samefirm (Bill Taylor’s ‘All TerrainAccess’) as this year. No prices asyet but anticipate a week’s workand if prices hold then approx £500per day. Bill may well manager it inless but I prefer to be pessimisticand add the odd day on.” See pho-tos page 13.

NEW MEMBERS

The following new members havejoined since the date of the lastNewsletter:

Charles McKenzie,4241 Morgan Crescent,Prince George, BC V2N 3E7

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P. Robert MacKenzie,2163 Country Hills Circle N.W.,Calgary, AB T3K 4Z2

The following piece I found onan e-mail and I found it fasci-nating. The Roses of Kilravockwere close neighbours of theMackenzies located near Fort

George:

BATTLE OF CULLODEN:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Culloden

This article mentions a “Rose” -Hugh (Rose of Kilravock), 16thBaron, entertained the Pretenderand the Duke of Cumberlandrespectively on 14th and 15th April1746, before the battle of Culloden.On the occasion the Pretender'smanners and deportment weredescribed by his host as mostengaging. Having walked out withMr. Rose, before sitting down, heobserved several persons engagedin planting trees. He remarked,“How happy, Sir, you must feel, tobe thus peaceably employed inadorning your mansion, whilst allthe country round is in such com-motion.” Kilravock was a firm sup-porter of the house of Hanover; buthis adherence was not solicited, norwere his preferences alluded to.Next day, the Duke of Cumberlandcalled at the castle gate, and whenKilravock went to receive him, hebluffly observed, “So you had mycousin Charles here yesterday.”Kilravock replied, “What am I todo, I am Scottish”, To whichCumberland replied, “you did per-fectly right.”

GENEALOGICAL HUNTING

Iguess most of us have spent sometime at least searching for ourMackenzie ancestors. From time totime we get questions directed to usby someone just hoping we mightbe able to pull a rabbit out of the hatand answer all the questions. Ofcourse it just doesn’t happen likethat.

I thought members might beinterested in a series of e-mails thatarose when Matt Hall in Wyoming

sent in a query and by the time wefinished a number of members werebrought in to see if they could help.I fancy that if some of you out therecan add to this fascinating piece ofancestor-searching then please letus know.

Here is a summary sent in byMatt. If you can add anything tothis genealogical search get intouch:

Dear Alan,

I am writing a biography ofJesse Burgess Thomas, one of thefirst two U.S. Senators from Illinoisand the author of the MissouriCompromise.

He was married to RebeccaMacKenzie who was born in about1775 in Crown Point, New York.Since she was born at the time theBritish controlled Crown Point andsince she went on from there toMontreal, she was presumably thechild of Loyalist parents. In 1797she married John FrancisHamtramck who was then theAmerican commander of the fort atDetroit and the third highest rank-ing officer in the U.S. Army. It wasironic that she, born in America andfled to Canada, should end up mar-rying Hamtramck who had beenborn in Canada and chose to leaveto fight on the American side in theRevolutionary War.

At the time of her marriage toHamtramck, which occurred theyear after the fort had been finallyturned over by the British, Rebeccawas described as the “belle ofDetroit.” She was said in one fam-ily account to have been a sister toSir Alexander MacKenzie, the onewho was a principal of the fur-trad-ing house known as the North WestCompany and a famous arctic

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Castle Repair Work

East Battlement before repairs

This shows a tree growing out of the eastchimney head!

explorer. There are some intriguing parallels to the lifeof the explorer, namely the arrival of Sir Alexander’sfather, Kenneth, in New York in 1774 and his enlist-ment in a loyalist regiment soon afterward went to thearea near Crown Point and then on to Montreal.

However, for reasons discussed below, I believe shemay have been the sister of another AlexanderMacKenzie.

Hamtramck died in 1803, and William HenryHarrison, then the governor of the territory in whichDetroit was located, became his executor and advisorto Rebecca. It is presumably through Harrison that shemet Jesse Burgess Thomas, who was then serving asSpeaker of the territorial General Assembly. Theywere married in 1807, the year before he went off to bea territorial judge in the new Illinois Territory.

In 1810, Thomas wrote a series of letters to herbrothers seeking support for Rebecca’s children by herfirst marriage. Three of the brothers are namedMacKenzie. They are Alexander, William and Robert.

There are also several letters to Thomas Marklandof Kingston, who is also described as a brother.

The Thomas Markland to whom a November 13,1810 letter is addressed is definitely the prosperousmerchant of Kingston described in the CanadianDictionary of Biography Online, because there are alsoletters from Jesse Burgess Thomas to his son GeorgeH. Markland, who also has an entry in the CDBO.Thomas’ letter of November 13 to the elder Marklandrefers to the connection “between your sister andmyself” and refers to a letter he had received fromAlex’r. McKenzie, another from “your Brother ofMontreal” and to several from “your Brother ofPhiladelphia.”

He concludes that he “will be very happy to hearfrom you ... Mrs. Thomas sends her love to Mrs.Markland, yourself and your son ...” It is hard to seehow Markland could have been a brother-in-law toRebecca because his only known wife is CatherineHerchmer. Perhaps he was a half-brother rather than abrother-in-law.

Five days later, Thomas wrote a warm letter toAlex’r. McKenzie, dated Kaskaskia, Illinois Territory,November 18, 1810 saying that he hopes Alexanderwill soon come for a visit. It is this letter that makesme think that it was not addressed to Sir AlexanderMacKenzie because the latter had returned to Scotlandin 1808 and was never again in North America. This

letter refers to Alexander’s brothers William, his broth-er John and his brother Robert as well as to Mr. T.Markland.

On the same day, November 18, Thomas wrote aletter to Robert McKenzie.

From the context, it appears that Robert could be thebrother from Montreal. Thomas Markland is theredescribed as being “of Kingston.” As background onboth Markland and Robert McKenzie, there is a fasci-nating account by Capt. Thomas GummersallAnderson in James J. Talman’s “Loyalist Narrativesfrom Upper Canada” describing Anderson beingapprenticed to Markland and then going off withRobert MacKenzie on a fur-trading expedition to theMississippi River. Clearly this is the Robert who wasa brother of Rebecca.

It would be very useful and important to know whowere Rebecca’s parents. Perhaps someone will be ableto identify a family of MacKenzies in that time periodwith brothers named Robert, William and Alexanderwith connections to Montreal and Philadelphia or witha connection to Thomas Markland. I would appreciateany help anyone could give.

Sincerely,Matthew W. Hallmwhall@pardee.com

Ed: I cannot help but think that those early Mackenziesin Montreal must have left descendants - some ofwhom may be current members of our society. Wewould be very interested in hearing from members whomay be able to spot a family connection here.

RODDY MACKENZIE’S MESSAGE

Apast president of the Clan Mackenzie Society inthe Americas (when it included both Canada andthe United States) is Roddy MacKenzie whom may ofyou will know well. He has taken on the role ofCommunications Coordinator for the SeaforthHighlanders of Canada Patrons’ Corps. In this role hewill be issuing newsletters. Here is an e-mail he sent inlate February:

Good Morning Fellow Seaforth Patrons,What better way to wind up this week than by

receiving your first Seaforth Patron news of 2008!Attached is lots of interesting information. The mosttime urgent is our Annual Seaforth Patrons’ Luncheon

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on Thursday, March 13th. Please diarizethat one right now, and please come.

Unfortunately, I will personally have tomiss our March 13th luncheon. I’ll be inNew Zealand. I’m Secretary and AssistantTour Leader of our Kerrisdale LionsRugby Team, a group of Grades 11 and 12boys including my son Ruaridh. On learn-ing last June that our sons’ high schoolwould not be having a rugby tour in 2008,several other parents and I created thisteam and 25 boys from Ruaridh’s schoolpromptly joined. Canada’s greatest rugbyplayer, Gareth Rees, signed on as ourcoach and the Canadian Rugby Union issanctioning our tour. So wish us successduring our half-month rugby tour of New Zealand nextmonth, and come to our Seaforth Patrons’ AnnualLuncheon March 13th.

And enjoy reading the attached news of ourSeaforth Highlanders of Canada Patrons’ Corps. [Seepage 16 for the attached news.]

Best regards, RoddyRoddy MacKenzieCommunications CoordinatorSeaforth Highlanders of Canada Patrons' CorpsShannon Mews at 110 - 7155 Granville StreetVancouver, BC V6P 4X6 Ph 604-264-8885

GENETIC MUTATIONS OFFER INSIGHTS ON HUMANDIVERSITY

By David BrownWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, February 22, 2008

We're all pretty much the same except, of course,for the little things that make us different.Those are the conclusions of three studies published

this week that looked at human diversity through thekeyhole of the genetic mutations we all carry.

The findings -- the latest dividend from the world’sinvestment in the Human Genome Project in the 1990s-- confirm a broad narrative of human history knownfrom previous biological, archaeological and linguisticstudies. But the new research adds an astonishing levelof detail and a few new insights that were not previ-

ously available.

All three studies support the idea that modernhuman beings left East Africa, walked into CentralAsia and then fanned out east and west to people theentire planet. The studies also confirm earlier researchshowing that as a group, Africans have more diversegenes than people of other continents. But the newresearch further shows that genetic diversity declinessteadily the farther one’s ancestors traveled from AddisAbaba, Ethiopia, which is roughly the site of the exitturnstile for the “out-of-Africa” migration.

The studies also show that many seemingly “pure-bred” ethnic groups have ancestry traceable to morethan one continent.

For example, the Arabian Peninsula’s Bedouin -- aculturally distinct group -- are descended not only fromlongtime Middle Eastern peoples, but also fromEuropeans and peoples originating from around mod-ern Pakistan. The Yakut people of eastern Siberia shareblood with East Asians, Europeans and AmericanIndians, but very little with Central Asians, who aregeographically closer to them than two of those popu-lations.

The research may also shed light on the geneticunderpinnings of human disease. One study found thatAmericans of European descent carry a larger numberof damaging gene variants than African Americans do-- a byproduct of Caucasians’arduous march westward

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The Seaforth Highlanders of CanadaPatrons’ Corps

News of Interest to Every Seaforth Patron

Our First Seaforth News of 2008: Our Chair, L.Col. Arthur A. Knight, has asked me to send thisnews to you - our first Seaforth Patron News of 2008.

Patrons' Presentation to Seaforth Captain Trevor Greene: This coming week, our SeaforthCommanding Officer, L.Col. Rob Roy MacKenzie, will for us present The Highlander to CaptainTrevor Greene in his hospital in Alberta. Brutally attacked in March 2006 while on duty conferringwith Village Elders in Afghanistan, Trevor is the most grievously wounded Seaforth in over 60 years.He's the third recipient of The Highlander from our Patrons' Corps. L.Col. Arthur Knight and Col.David Fairweather are the other two recipients.

Patrons' 2008 Annual Luncheon March 13: On Thursday, March 13th at noon in the Officers' Messof the Seaforth Armoury, we will have our 2008 Annual Patrons' Luncheon. Good food, good fellow-ship and interesting news.

April 12, 2008 Annual British Columbia Military Ball: This year's Annual BC Military Ball is onSaturday, April 12th in Victoria. We are being given a special room-rate at the Fairmont EmpressHotel of only $100 per night. It's important that our Seaforth Highlanders be represented by at leasta couple of tables of our Officers, Patrons and guests. Please let me know if you are coming.

Seaforth Cadet Reunion October 18, 2008: Our Chair, L.Col. Arthur Knight, is Chairing a Committeeto organize a third Seaforth Cadet Reunion. Art also helped organize the second Reunion 12 yearsago, and the first Reunion 22 years ago. This third Cadet Reunion will convene on Saturday, Oct18th in the Seaforth Armoury Drill Hall. Former Cadets, and parents of our Cadet Band and Guard,will be invited. We Patrons will also be invited. You will recall that our Patrons' Corps' original pur-pose was to assist our Cadets. The fund our donations created aids our Cadet Corps each year inperpetuity. Our four Cadet Corps are:

72nd Vancouver Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Cadet Corps 2812th Surrey/White Rock Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Cadet Corps2893rd Coquitlam Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Cadet Corps and 2963rd Sechelt Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Cadet Corps.

Arthur's Committee is arranging special entertainment for what will be a memorable Cadet Reunionon Oct 18th. Please diarize the date and come.

To Reserve Your Place at Our March 13th Luncheon or the April 12th Annual BC Military Ball inVictoria, please email me at kintail@telus.net or phone me at 604-264-8885.

Respectfully submitted to our Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Patrons' Corps on Feb 22, 2008 byRoddy MacKenzie, Seaforth Patrons Communications Coordinator.

to the shores of the Atlantic.

The biggest message, though, is that these differ-ences are the details, not the main message, of humandiversity.

About 90 percent of the full catalogue of humangenetic diversity exists in every human population.Individuals are likely to have almost as many differ-ences with people we consider to be “like us” as withstrangers on the other side of the world.

“What this says is that we are all extremely relatedto each other,” said Richard M. Myers, a geneticist atStanford University School of Medicine, who helpedlead one of the studies being published today in thejournal Science.

“Most genetic variation is shared worldwide. It isonly a small part of human genetic variation that is pri-vate to particular continents,” said Noah A. Rosenberg,of the University of Michigan. His group’s findingswere published yesterday in the journal Nature.

All three studies examined single “letter” changesin the 3-billion-letter transcript that makes up each per-son’s genome. Every individual carries tens of thou-sands of these variations. Some do not change the“words” that are the genes; some change a word butnot its meaning; and some change the meaning in away that can be beneficial or harmful.

Each person’s collection of these changes (called“single nucleotide polymorphisms” or SNPs) con-tributes to his or her individuality. People with a com-mon ancestry, however, tend to have similar collec-tions of SNPs (pronounced “snips”).

“There is no single gene, no single DNA marker,that would distinguish one population from another,”Myers said. Instead, he said, “it is a pattern, like a barcode with thousands of lines on it,” that allowsresearchers to tease apart the fine points of relatednessamong populations.

He and his colleagues looked at 938 individualsfrom 51 different populations whose DNA is in a

repository in France. The group lead by Rosenberg andAndrew B. Singleton, of the University of Virginia,studied 485 people from the same collection. Each per-son studied had a clear-cut ethnic identity and in mostcases came from a family that had lived in the group’shomeland for generations.

With such diverse and abundant starting material,the researchers were able to sketch a picture of ethnic-ity far more detailed than previously known.

For example, Africa’s surviving hunter-gatherers --two groups of pygmies and the San people of southernAfrica who were formerly known as Bushmen -- areclosely related to one another and quite distinct on agenetic basis from all other black Africans. The Hazaraof Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Uygur of north-western China are also close genetic relatives, despiteliving far apart. On the other hand, China’s dominantethnicity, the Han, is actually two genetically distinctgroups, the northern and the southern Han.

The research shows that populations’ genetic foot-prints on the planet are deep, sharp and not easily cov-ered over by time.

Both research teams using the French DNA collec-tion found geographic distance from East Africa is amajor determinant of genetic differences amonggroups.

“Each group carried only a subset of the geneticvariation from its ancestral population. So there is aloss of genetic diversity with the distance from Africa,”Rosenberg said.

One of the more interesting consequences of thatpattern is the subject of the third study, also publishedin Nature.

Carlos D. Bustamante of Cornell University and hiscolleagues measured SNPs in 20 European Americansand 15 African Americans. They found that the averageperson carries at least 2,000 SNPs that change themeaning of a genetic “word.” However, in theEuropean Americans, a larger proportion of thosechanges were likely to be unhealthy or unfavorable.

The reasons for this curious finding are not fully

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known, although there are theories.

The chief explanation is that the ancestors ofEuropeans (and most white Americans) sufferedrepeated population “bottlenecks” in which their num-bers crashed as result of epidemics, environmental cat-astrophes and genocide. Each time that happened, thepopulation lost a lot of its genetic diversity simplybecause a lot of people died.

The survivors, like their ancestors, carried a certainrandom collection of deleterious SNPs -- genes thatcaused disease or increased the risk of disease. Whenthe population rebounded, those genes were spreadwidely as the small number of survivors gave rise to allliving descendants.

But if they were potentially bad, why weren’t theyflushed out by natural selection? That is the mystery.

It may be that in the rebound after the bottleneck,the slight hazardousness of these SNPs did not makemuch difference. New conditions, perhaps territoryfree of competitors or a new technology for gettingfood, allowed people who carried them to flourish justas well as people who did not have them.

It is even possible that some deleterious SNPs were“dragged along” into the future because they werephysically close on chromosomes to newly arisingSNPs that increased a person’s biological fitness.

With time, natural selection will tend to flush thedeleterious SNPs out, as it has done -- relatively speak-ing -- in African populations. But in the case ofEuropeans, not enough time has passed.

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The following tale comes from an old copy of aneven much older book about Gairloch and a Guideto Loch Marie published in 1886. Among the manyinteresting pages of this parish, noted for its vast num-ber of Mackenzies living there, are a series of anec-dotes and stories of the local inhabitants. These taleswere told by James Mackenzie of Kirkton, who wasborn in 1808. James was a descendant of the 5th lairdof Gairloch. He was an enthusiastic lover of family his-tory and local folk-lore and his stories were tran-

scribed preserving the same words and phrases that heused.

We shall publish more of these stories in futureissues of Cabar Feidh. Meanwhile here is one whichinvolved the Mackenzies of Dundonnell.

THE OTHER ROB ROY MACGREGOR

Kenneth Mackenzie, the last laird of Dundonnell ofthe old family, was descended from the first LordMackenzie of Kintail, and was a connection of theGairloch Mackenzies. He was a peculiar man; he had alarge flock of hens, and used to make every tenant payhim so many hens at the Martinmas term along withtheir rent. My grandfather’s brother, Sandy M‘Rae,who was tenant of the Isle of Gruinard, had to pay fourhens every year to the laird. Kenneth Mackenzie, in1817, married Bella, daughter of one Donald RoyMacgregor, belonging to Easter Ross; they had no fam-ily. She had a brother called Rob Roy Macgregor, whowas a lawyer in Edinburgh. When Kenneth was on hisdeathbed his wife and Rob Roy wanted him to leavethe Dundonnell estate to the latter. The dying laird waswilling to do so, because he did not care for his onlybrother Thomas Mackenzie; but he was so weak that hecould not sign his name to the will, and it is said thatRob Roy Macgregor held the laird’s hand with the pen,and that the wife was keeping up the hand while RobRoy made the signature. The laird died soon after, andleft nothing at all to his brother Thomas. When the willbecame known there was a great feeling of indignationamong all the Mackenzies and the gentry of the lowcountry, as well as among the tenantry on theDundonnell estates, against Rob Roy Macgregor, whonow took up his residence at the old house ofDundonnell. The whole of the tenantry were opposedto him, except one man at Badluachrach named DonaldMaclean, commonly called Donald the son ofFarquhar. He was the only man that was on Rob Roy’sside. His neighbours made a fire in the bow of his boatin the night time and burnt a good part of it. He sent theboat to Malcolm Beaton, a cousin of his own atPoolewe, to repair it; the night after it was repaired(whilst still at Poolewe) there was a fire put in thestern, and the other end of her was burnt. TheDundonnell tenants rose against Rob Roy Macgregor,and procured firearms; they surrounded the house, andfired through the shutters by which the windows weredefended, hoping to take his life; one ball or slug

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struck the post of his bed. The next night he escaped,and never returned again. His barn and his stacks ofhay and corn were burnt, and the manes and tails of hishorses were cut short. Thomas Mackenzie commencedlaw against Rob Roy Macgregor for the recovery of theestate. In the end it was decided that it belonged to him,but it had become so burdened by the law expenses thatit had to be sold.

This account is in accord with the family recordsshown in Alexander Mackenzie’s book “History of theMackenzies” copies available for $80 inclusive ofpostage from the Clan MacKenzie Society in Canada.Here is a portion from the Dundonnel family recordpages 364 and 365.

“V. Kenneth Mackenzie, fifth of Dundonnel, who,in 1817, married Isabella, daughter of Donald Roy ofTreeton, without issue. He left the estate by will to hisbrother-in-law, Robert Roy, W.S., who, however, lost itafter a long and costly litigation with Kenneth’s broth-er,

VI. Thomas Mackenzie, sixth of Dundonnel, whowas financially ruined by the litigation in the case; andthe property had to be sold in 1835, to meet the costsof the trial. It was bought by Murdo Munro-Mackenzieof Ardross, grandfather of the present owner, HughMackenzie of Dundonnel, and of Bundanon,Shoulhaven, New South Wales. Thomas married hiscousin, Anne, eldest daughter of Alexander, VI. of Ord,with issue -

1. George Alexander, who became the representa-tive of the family on the death of his father.

2. Thomas, who emigrated to California, and ofwhose issue, if any, nothing is known.

3. John Hope, who for some time resided at Tarra-dale House, Ross-shire

4. Helen, who married the Hon. Justice CharlesHenry Stewart of Ceylon, without issue.

5. Isabella, who resided in Elgin, unmarried.Thomas was succeeded as representative of the

family by his eldest son,VII. George Alexander Mackenzie, who, on the

death of his father, became head of the originalMackenzies of Dundonnel, although the estates hadbeen sold to another family. He married Louisa, daugh-ter of Captain Stewart of the Ceylon Rifles, withoutissue. If his next brother, who went to California, sur-vived George Alexander, then, on his death, he -

VIII. Thomas Mackenzie, would have succeededas head of his house, and failing him and his descen-dants, if any, the representation of the old Mackenziesof Dundonnel would have fallen to

John Hope Mackenzie, third son of Thomas, VI. ofDundonnel and last proprietor of the family estates. Hemarried Louisa, daughter of Captain Stewart of theCeylon Rifles, widow of his deceased brother, GeorgeAlexander, without issue, and died in London in 1892.”

Ed: The Dundonnel (otherwise Dundonnell) line was a senior linefor the Chiefship of the Clan. If there were male descendants thenthey could well have been heirs to the Chiefship of the clan. In theend, of course, the title of Chief went to the earl of Cromartiethrough his ancient descent from the Chiefs of the clan and thefamous “Tutor of Kintail”.

THE MACKENZIE DNA PROJECT

At a risk of repeating myself I would like to remindmembers that the DNA Project continues to grownicely and we now have 183 Mackenzies signed up forthe y-chromosome tests. Many members went initiallyfor a 12 marker test because it was the cheapest way ofgetting involved at a cost of US$99 plus $4 postage.

However, since that time it is clear that membershave become very enthused with the project as themajority have spent further funds to expand their DNAmarkers to 25, 37 or even 67 markers. The reason forthis is that so many members have found they match100% with 12 markers with other Mackenzies that theyneeded more markers to find just how close they wererelated to the others.

To use my own example I found I matched withnobody on 12 markers except with a few names notcalled Mackenzie. I then contacted a 4th cousin, ColinAshton McKenzie. We did not match exactly on 12markers but when we did 37 markers we matched 34and in fact, as a consequence, he is my closest matchout of over 100,000 people who have done this DNAtest. I am thus satisfied that he is my 4th cousin and thisproves the paper trail which our respective familieshave put together over many generations.

About 85% of members (including me) areclassified as R1b - meaning we descend from a man inSpain around 35,000 years ago!

I have been invited to give a talk to The CanadianFederation of University Women Markham/Unionville, Ontario on the subject of tracing ancestorsusing DNA. - Alan McKenzie

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BELOW IS A COPY OF THE BACK AND FRONT PAGES OF A SPLENDID CHRISTMAS CARDSENT BY MARK COURTNEY