The sixteenth yeare of the reign of Alexander II. was 1230; for he ascended the throne in 1214. It necessarily follows that the charter, if signed at all, must have been signed thirty-three years before the battle of Largs, and thirty-six years earlier than the actual date written on the document itself. If it had any existence before it appeared in the Earl of Cromartie's manuscript of the seventeenth century, it must have been written during the lives of the witnesses whose names attest it. According to those who maintain that Colin Fitzgerald was the progenitor of the Mackenzies, thirty-one years before that adventurer ever crossed the Irish Channel, and probably several years before he was born, if he ever existed elsewhere than in the Earl of Cromartie's fertile imagination.
Between Alexander III. of Scotland and Magnus IV. of Norway in consequence of which an entirely new organisation was introduced into the Hebrides, then inhabited by a mixed race composed of the natives and largely of the descendants of successive immigrant colonists of Norwegians and Danes who had settled in the country. In this memorable engagement, we are told, the Scots commenced the attack. The right wing, composed of the men of Argyle, of Lennox, of Athole, and Galloway, was commanded by Alexander, Lord High Steward, while Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March, commanded the left wing, composed of the men of the Lothians, Berwick, Stirling, and Fife. The King placed himself in the centre, at the head of the choice men of Ross, Perth, Angus, Mearns, Mar, Moray, Inverness, and Caithness, where he was confronted by Haakon in person, who, for the purpose of meeting the Scottish King, took post in the Norwegian centre. After the defeat of Haakon the King sent detachments to secure the West Highlands and Isles, and to check the local chiefs. Among the leaders sent in charge of the Western garrisons was, according to the supporters of the Irish-origin theory, Colin Fitzgerald, who, under the patronage of Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith, was settled in the Government of the Castle of Ellandonnan, the well-known stronghold of the Mackenzies, in Kintail, situated on a small rocky island at the junction of Lochalsh, Loch Duich and Loch Long. He was also appointed governor of the royal fortress of Ellandonan. According to a legend handed down from early times, an important service rendered to Alexander III. by Kenneth, son of this Colin, greatly advanced if it did not lay the foundation of his fortunes.
In 1362, Murdoch Mackenzie was granted lands of Kintail by King David II. In 1607, Kenneth the 12th chief was given lands of Lochalsh and Lochcarron so that all the land from Ardnamurchan to Strathnaver were in possession of Mackenzies. Strathnaver was one of the last of the ten parishes in Sutherland. Two earldoms were granted to the Mackenzies, Seaforth and Cromartie.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Septs,