Person:Iye MacKay (2)

"THE BOOK OF MACKAY." • ' Reviewed by Jessie Mackay. ( j Amidst all the turmoil of the Scottish Stuart period the Maclcays of Strathnaver were steadily growing in power, and win*ning a name that resounded even to distant Holyrood. Again aisd again charters from the Kings are qTnSted, confirming or bestowing estates on the chiefs- of the. clan. They, Joore their part manfully in the rough warden duty, by which alone the jDrown could enforce anything like order in the turbulent iforth. Particularly did lye Roy Mackay .distinguish himself in putting down the stout rebel Torquil of the Lews, who* in 1503 put himeelf"at the head of \ those -discontented Adallamites who* wanted-to restore the ancient lordship of the Isles. It -was here that the Huntly family first gained that hold on the" North Highlands that made the Gordocs preeminent there in the sixteenth century. By process of law and the mental weakness of .their rivals, the" astute Gordons worked themselves into the Earldom of Sutherland? and took on, with other' adjuncts pf thaititle, the- fixed policy of reducing the, lords of Strathnaver to X vassalage. Our author allows that, so far as certain lands within the overlordfihip oHSutherland went, the claim, was' just, but shows that, so far as the bulk of their landed jpstatee were concerned,- the relations between the Mackays and early Gordons were those .of- equals and, for the mest part, allies, the wily new earls ' much preferring to set the neighbouring 'clans underhandedly by the ears rather than to take open field against any of them. r Thus bonds of' friendship were signed between the Gordons" and the Mackays,- beginning with lye Duj who, after supporting James IV' in the Leitjs, followed him to Flodden. i Soon the Mackays found, wjth other clans, that the Gordon cuckoo was likely to be an ill neighbour in the nest, being as grasping in Sutherland as it bad already proved" in the eonth. But greater events -than the feudal jealousies of the Highlanders were soon to change the face of ifcotUukL Already in England the political breach with Rome (had been roughly effected, and from various motives many ?of the Scottish nobles' wished for a like change in their own country. This mainly^ accounted* for the less than half-hearted support given to James V at Solway Mobs, where the army was scattered, and many leading men carried off to England, where they were held in easy and honourable durance. It was the polity of Henry VHI to conciliate these leaders, and win their support to his pet scheme of marrying his son EaVard to the infant. Mary Queen of Scots. Among these was another lye , Dv Mackay, who fell in as readily as most i of the rest with a plan which promised j a Protestant Government for Scotland, and none the less readily because the . Catholic HuntJys, with Cardinal Beaton, headed the French faction of the Guises; But the Guise star was not eclipsed by Knox, and lye Mackay, committed to the Protestant English alliance at Pinkie and Haddington was taken captive,, and spoiled of his lands by" the Earl nf Sutherland. But a turn of, Fortune's wheel put the proud Hunilys beneath the feet of Mary Queen of Scots. They presumed 1 too fatj and the angered young Queen caused the dead body" of the rebel Earl of , Huntly to be arraigned in his coffin, while hie ikinsman of Sutherland fled over the sea. \ Jftrathnaver was reft from them and~de- 1 graded by being made a love-gift to the .worthless Darnley. But Mary's fancy j .veered again. - No wife, in truth, could , k •have borne with Darnley long ; but even •for these cruel times the conduct of young .Gordon, murdered Huritly's son, j& inexplica-bl© to a modern mind. He it was (wm> became the Queen's tool in ihe matter of Darnley's removal and the Botbtwell well marriage: hie sister, Lady -Jane, also suing for the divorce that left. Bothwell free ' (to marry Mary. lye Dv Mackay, though, pardoned by the Queen, still saw his lands occupied by the Gordon faction, and jlvinced his sense of injury by wasting fekibo and burning Dornoch. Had Moray lived, who was his friend, Strathnaver jifpuld have 'come back free to Mackay ; M. it was, tbe stout fighter who had! so flosg withstood! ihe corrupt Guise faction bad to chooae between losing all and i j fi'The Book of Mackagr." By Rev. Angus

owning the Earl of Huntly for over-lord. ! He wa» advised to take the latter 1 course, tin 1570 he signed the deed), and won back Strathnaver on these terms shortly before hie deathT Soon, however, Huntly .sold. h\s right 3to tbe Earl of Sutherland. Huistean - (or Hugh), . son of lye, utterly refused to acknowledge hie hereditary enemy as suzerain ; but the Earl saw other ways.pf taming the already formidable young chief, and by offering a large remission t>f accumulated dues, together with the hand-of bis daughter. Lady Jane, at last broke down tbe fierce independence of Mackay and won a son-in-law anck a vassal, though 'a grudging^ one. Twelve yeans later Sutherland obtained from James I tbe' charter of regality, which, as we have seen, was granted on the false assumption that he was descended from, the daughter of Robert Brace. The days of Huistean, like those ~of his Jather , were stormy and evil, full of broils abroad , '.and clan .dissensions at \home, for the Aberachs were now • estranged the chiefs 'of Strathnaver, and the' Unstable alliance of Caithness brought nothing but disaster to the Mackays. The seventeenth century brought great changes to tbe\ House of Mackay. It was then that, cramped' at 'home -by the power of "the Sutherlands, they sought- gold and. glory abroad in those long struggles between Protestants and Catn^cs which began with the Thirty Years. In Germany, in Denmark, in Sweden, "and more particularly in Holland the Mackays, whr&e' sympathies from, the first were Protestant, won high honour, and founded noble families who flourished abroad amid their new allies.' Of these Jeaders the first was Ponald, eon of , Huistean, jaooA' Lady Jane Gordon, his wife ; and for his services to the ' King's kindred 1 abroad Sir Donald was made Lord Reay by Charles I in 1628. Little fortune follo-wgd the title, though ; he was never . repaidT the vast same he Mad spent raising troops, - and to settle the costs of a lawsuit, .redounding not greatly to his credit, he had to sell the lands of Reay (6till holding j fctrathnaver, howeyer). Like many of the northern nobility, he^ became a lukewarm Covenanter, then drew -off openly to the j King's side in the «ivjl war which now i broke -over Scotland. Still greater were the misfortunes of the second Lord Reay, who, like his father, was a strong Royalist, I and narrowly escaped with hi* life on j the triumph of the Parliament. His kinsman, the Earl of Sutherland, still! hungering for Strathnaver, pressed the imprisoned i baron hard through the Edinburgh courts ; the strong hand, when it came to law, was ever against Mackay. It was during these days that Highland Royalists passed among themselves the pitying proverb, "If I am miserable, more so is Mackay." But it was this same lord j whose romantic escape from prison is i graphically told in old records. His brave and, beautiful wife, one* of the most not- ! , able ladies of the time, contrived his flight 1 with the aid of a huge, fierce-looking ' Aberach Mackay, his servant. Cromwell both connived at the escape and saved i the "neck of the" faithful Aberach- afterwards, bat remarked, after a pood look at him, "May - 1 be- preserved frrm the ' devil's- and that man's grasp !" Lord Reay made speedy -use of his liberty to compound his Edinburgh bill of costs by 1i second harrying, of his enemy's l»ads in Sutherlandshire ; and the Restoration of 1660 not only deprived the Earl of any chance to retaliate, but brought -him to , great poverty ; and for once the star of j .Mackay was in the ascendant. Lord i Reay for the rest of his life kept gallant I state at Durness, renewing the old bond of i friendship between Mackay and Seafort-h, < and successfully disputing the worst exactions forced upon him during his captivity. In his time began that close connection with Holland which enriched the Republic with the service of so many" noble and valiant soldiers, notably Mackay of Killiecrankie, and finally gave back to the clan for its head a Baron of the Neth*»r- J lands and a deeply cultured European statesman. The dark pictures left of many of the early lords of Strathnaver were drawn, it must be remembered, by their hereditary enemies; still, of the founders of the House of Reay we read too much that savours of the devious and violent times in . which their stormy lot was cast. But the close of the\ seventeenth century saw" a ' new Strathnaver", under ( some of the noblest men of that strenuous time. No i longer .was Protestantism- of Mjckay | B?&9&_JLJH)lft€ftl expedignsjj;. In the

'•killing times" hunted Covenanters found ao closer and kinde* shelter than the L*arid ,of the Mackays; -and the spiritual rebirth-of Strathnaver, once lighted by the' island beacons of Columba and Rona, was hastened and fostered by George, third Lord Reay/ called by hi^ grateful clan Am Morair Mor, "the great lord*"N As the orphan nephew of the great and good General Hugh Mackay of Killiecrankie, I/ord Reay had finished his education in Holland, and returned to be a man of peace and an' uplifter of hit.' people. No longer was it the ambition of Reay to deplete his native glens of their best blood to pour out in ihe shambles of the "Continent ; but rather to spread among them schools and churches, preachers and teachers, before whom the medieval ( (darkness of the Highlands broke in the light o£r a better age. Not tfiat the hand of Mackay could long be parted from the sword ; they bad won too high and enduring a name in the Dutch waxs not to be sought after now as. once they .bad been by Gustavus Adolphus and the Protestant veterans of Germany. It was General Hugh Macls^a-y's wise policy of building forts that subdued the Highlands after KilKercrankie, and had William's counsels been swayed generally by 6uch Christian patriots as he, there would never- have been a "Forty-Five." But Hugh Mackay fell at Steinkirk, so mourned' by the master who knew his worth that the commander 'whose rash order sealed his fate was never again permitted to enter William's Court. And the -Highlands were embittered by * the double -crimes of' the massacre of Glencoe and the starving- of Darien, where many Mackays perished with the rest. But the memory of these lamentable events 'did not; shake .the' enthusiasm of Am Morair Mor for the Pro-, testant succession. When the Jacobite danger was at the door, Tie promptly sent to the- Earl of Sutherland . to bury fanner differences and sign a Bond of Friendship, thus to show a united front- to the enemy. He being stricken in years, it was his 6on who took up arms, "and who cut the ground from the Jacobites* fee* in the, north, else the ensuing battle of Culloden might have had another ending, and the rebellion been prolonged. With this exception, the life .of Am Morair Mor was spent in peaceful work jfmong his people, tfie fruit oT which, was se'en in the reporJr of a Government official in 1750, four years after Cu&oden: - ' " "The common people of the M*Kays are the most religious of all 4be tribes that ' dwell among the . mountains, south or north. . .- . Of old they wete reckoned th.c most barbarous and wicked of the clans; but they were effectually civilised in the time of thg late Lord Reae, to which Lieutenant General Mackay, a man of eminent virtue and merit, contributed not a little./ ... The M'Kays abhor thieving." -- Owpng" to this lord's generous efforts, the parish of Driniess was divided, and several new parishes established and united under the ,new Presbytery of Tougue. Moreover, no district profited more by the 'system of the double school - ' one maintained by the parish and one by the S.P.CJK.- than did Strathmaver in the eighteenth century. From' these quiet glens went out the men whose valour and piety were the marvel of their fellow soldiers, whether in Africa, on the Continent, or in Ireland during the dark "Ninetyeight," when the "Honest Reays" won General Lake's hearty- approbation, and wb*at was far higher praise, the respect of "the unhappy rebels they were sent to conquer. The" Reay Fencibks, we niay were*Tirst enlisted at the outbreak of the French war in 1794. , s Such men as Am, Morair Mor and his great-minded son, General Alexander Mackay, the friend of the poor and defender of v the oppressed, rule by a veritable divine right ; b^ut other lords came after, and the evil day 'drew on when the House of Mackay went landless and sorrowing from their ancient seats in the north.- It was the degenerate and spendthrift Eric, seventh Lord Reay, who sold the- fair lands of .JStrathniver to the House of Sutherland, then represented by the Countess Elizabeth and her English husband, the Marquis of Stafford. It w&s this- same Elizabeth whose leasing of fihe land to Patrick Sellar, a Lowland speculator, led to the infamous evictions of 1814-f9 in the parish of Farr. The^e wwe many Highland clearances in those dark days, clearances which in a sense were part of the bitter fruit of the long French war; but nowhere was the shameful work pressed on with more baste and cruelty than in Strathnaver> Eric Lord Reay was not innocent in this matter, though his methods were less summary than those of Stellar ; Stratbnaver was not sold till, 1829. Thus, in darkness and in shame, Strathnaver was lost and won ; thus -did a Mackay dice away in London the heritage his fathers had held by the strong hand for 500 years+ It was" the memory 'of these days that moved the remnant of the clan to the bitter retort, in the time of the Crimean war, "We have no country; our country" is under sheep ; let them fight the Russians^" . The eighth and ninth Lords Reay were soldiers. In 1875 the, direct line failed* in Scotland* and the succession- devolved upon the Dutch MackYys. Thus did Baron ./Eneas, father of the present chief, become the tenth Lord Reay, and .thus did the Clan Mackay boast as its chief one of the most able, lenrned, and noble peere in Britain; one who, as "Vicerpy of India, attained the highest honour in «the Empire. And' the record closes- with words of hope and cheer; once more Strathnaver if not an official clan centre, as in the days when Am Morair Mor ruled in Durness, is yet< the home of* many a returned Mackay, a gathering-place 'after long parting. No clan is' more clannish in the higher sense than the Mackays. This is shown by its early founding Qf the CJa-u Mackay Benefit Society, which began in 1806. A more modern, but not 'less beneficent, league is the active Clan Mackay Society, which saw the light in 1888, and has already dong much lor j^wr scholars and unfortunate - members. This society, one qf the most, i influential clap leagues in Scotland, ottc3 a deep debt of gratitude to two of its most active promoters- John Mackay, the genial and indefatigable editor of the Celtic Monthly, and the venerable John Mackay of Hereford, who entered on Iris rest early this year. I have been tempted far beyond the limits of a review, as my readers will se>3 ; but I venture to assure them th^t from the general reviewer's standpoint little but praise should greet the work of the Rev. Angus Mackay. He has never forgotten .that the ¦ aim of, such a volume is a terse statement of carefullyassorted facts. Consequently he has kept himself severely in 'hand against the temptations of discursiveness and purely literary effect ; but he has also successfully avoided the worser demon of dumess ; and the footnotes, rich in Anecdote, give^the book a human- colour. No" less is this colour imparted by the -warmth, of clan feeling which so often naively shines through -what would else be the dry assumptions of historical VesearcJi. .So admirably has he kept to. the purpose of tracing -the fortunes of the' House. of Heay and its immediate connections that one can only regret that £he -work could not be prolonged to treat qf more distant branches with equal detail. 'An extraordinary amount of pains has been taken with genealogy ; while the inclusion of many documents from the longlost Reay charter chest adds a- double interest, being valuable alike to clansmen and to antiquarians. It _ is, in fine, a fitraightforirard, scholarly work that qfiould quicken the pulse of Inany a young Highlander with \he new-old battle cry, "Be valiant!"

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree. (Name: Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;;)
   Database online.; Database online.; Database online.

   Record for Donald Mackay Record for Iye Roy MacKay Record for Angus Roy Mackay

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree (3). (Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;)
   Database online.

   Record for Iye Roy MacKay

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree. (Name: Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;;)
   Database online.

   Record for Lye Roy Mackay