The Earls of Cromartie; their kindred, country, and correspondence.

Front matter

G*. t. Mack

/,jfe y e> w ■ u r 6 .

THE EARLS

Preface

years ago. Judging that the Collection contained ample materials for an interesting Book, similar to other Family Books which have recently been arranged for several of the Historical Houses, I took the liberty of suggesting that a selection of the Letters and Charters should be printed, along with a comprehensive Memoir of Lord Cromartie. This proposal was readily assented to, and the work intrusted to me. It is a satisfaction to me that, amidst many interruptions and hindrances, this Family Book is at last added to a rather long list of others for which I am already responsible.

The regions of Boss and Cromartie, to which these volumes chiefly relate, are of great historical interest.1 Cromartie was the cradle of Macbeth. Boss was the scene of the repeated rebellions of Donald Bane, who, in the time of King William the Lion, possessed himself of the whole Earldom of Boss, and afterwards aimed at the conquest of the kingdom. But King William, with his brother, Earl David, advanced with a large army and succeeded in cutting off the rebel. The Castles of Dunscath, near Cromartie, and Ethirdover, or the Bedcastle in Killearnan, were then built, and still remain as monuments of the progress of the Lion King.

Between the years 1496 and 1513, King James the Fourth made seven pilgrimages to the shrine of St. Duthac, who was satirically styled "the Demigod of Boss." The last of these pilgrimages of the gallant King was made within a month of his death at Flodden. The King's Causeway, or Bridle Boad, at Tain, is still pointed out.

1 While on his memorable journey to the on the grass of the glen, lie first conceived the

Hebrides, Dr. Samuel Johnson passed through thought of writing his " Journey." The Doctor

Glenshiel, part of the country of the Mac- and his fellow-traveller amused themselves

kenzies of Seaforth, with great mountains on with a formal distribution of halfpence, tobacco,

each side, forming, as he said, a scene of as and wheat-bread amongst the "wild Macraes,"

wild nature as he could see. Sitting on a who inhabited that part of the country. They

bank for an hour, waiting his horses feeding had not previously seen any wheat-bread.

BOSS AND CROM ARTIE .- MACBETH, ETC. Hi

After the forfeiture of the ancient Earls of Boss, the district furnished new titles, under the old names, to members of the Eoyal Family. James Stewart, second son of King James the Third, was created, in 1487, Duke of Eoss, Marquis of Ormond, Earl of Ardmanach, and Lord of Brechin and Navar. The Duke did not long hold the territorial Dukedom of Eoss. On the 15th of May 1503, having obtained the rich Abbey of Dunfermline, he resigned the Dukedom of Eoss into the hands of the King. The Duke reserved for his life the Hill of Dingwall beside that town, for the style of Duke, the hill of Ormond for the style of Marquis, the Eeidcastle of Ardmanach for the style of Earl, and the Castlehill of Brechin, with gardens, . etc., for the name of Lord of Brechin and Navar. The Duke of Eoss died in 1504. It was said of him by Ariosto, as translated by Hoole —

" The title of the Duke of Ross he bears, No chief like him in dauntless mind compares."

The next creation of the title of Duke of Eoss was in favour of Alexander Stewart, the posthumous son of King James the Fourth. The Duke was born on 30th April 1514, and died on 18th December 1515. In the reign of Mary Queen of Scots John Earl of Sutherland acquired from Mary, the Queen-Dowager, a certain right in the Earldom of Eoss, which might ultimately have joined in one family both Sutherland and Eoss. Lord Darnley, on the prospect of his marriage with Queen Mary, was created Earl of Eoss, a title by which he is little known, as it was only given to him a short time before he obtained the higher titles of Duke of Albany and King of Scotland.

A history of the ancient Earls of Eoss and the Lords of the Isles is a desideratum. In the year 1850« there was printed for private circulation " Ane Breve Cronicle of the Earles of Eoss." The original manuscripts of that work are at Balnagowan and Pitcalnie. The " Cronicle " is very imperfect ; but the notices of original Charters which it contains are valuable.

it PREFACE.

The Ceomaetie Coeeespondence now printed occupies the largest portion of this Book, there being in all 520 letters. Those in the first volume, 253 in number, embrace the period from 1662 to 1705 ; and those in the second, 267 in number, extend from the year 1706 to the year 1774. The greater part of the Correspondence consists of letters addressed to the first Earl of Cromartie, or letters written by him. It is of a very varied character, including- letters from eminent divines, authors, statesmen, and men of science : amongst others, from John Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury, Jam'es Sharp, archbishop of St. Andrews, William Carstares, principal of the University of Edinburgh and for a long period secretary to King William the Third, and Eobert Barclay of Ury, author of " An Apology for the True Christian Divinity," preached by the people called "Quakers."

One of the most valuable sections of the Correspondence is that between John Earl of Mar and the first Earl of Cromartie. The Earls were cousins, Lord Mar's grandmother having been Lady Mary Mackenzie, daughter of George second Earl of Seaforth, while Lord Cromartie's mother was Margaret Erskine, daughter of Sir George Erskine of Innerteil, brother of the Earl of Kellie. From that connection Lord Mar called Lord Cromartie an " Erskine's bairn," and Lord Cromartie, in the same way, called Lord Mar a " Mackenzie's bairn." Besides this family relation, the two Earls had an official connection. Lord Mar succeeded Lord Cromartie as Secretary of State for Scotland, and the outgoing and incoming Secretaries carried on a very active correspondence on the then ruling subject of the Union between Scotland and England. Lord Cromartie's letters in favour of the Union are of very great interest.

Another correspondent of Lord Cromartie was Sidney Lord Godolphin, Lord High Treasurer of England. Lord Godolphin's correspondence was inherited by the family of Godolphin Osborne, Duke of Leeds. In the year

THE MAR, BUCCLEUCH, AND LOT AT LETTERS.

1869 a large collection of autograph letters belonging to them was dispersed by public sale in London. In the catalogue of the fourth day's sale there are the following entries of letters from Lord Cromartie : —

"Lot 623. — Mackenzie (Sir George), when Viscount Tarbat and Earl of Cromartie, distinguished Statesman, Lawyer, and Writer. Thirty holograph letters, two to Queen Anne, and the others to Lord Godolphin, from May 27, 1703, to July 14, 1705, with four others signed only when Earl of Cromartie, together 34. A most interesting and valuable series, relating principally to the proceedings of the Scotch Parliament during this eventful period."

" Lot 624. — Mackenzie (Sir George), Lord Tarbat, a letter signed, 1 page 4to, to Queen Anne, 16th July 1703."

" Lot 625. — Mackenzie (Sir George), Lord Tarbat and Earl of Cromartie. Sixteen autograph letters to (Lord Godolphin), and three other papers unsigned, very interesting, July 1703 to November 1706."

On inquiring in London it was ascertained that the lots 623 and 625 were purchased by M. Labussierre, a dealer in manuscripts, who retailed them soon afterwards without retaining the names of the purchasers. The letters could not be further traced.

Another section of the Correspondence here printed consists of the letters of Anne Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth to the first Earl of Cromartie, who, on his second marriage with her half-sister, Margaret Countess of Wemyss, became the brother-in-law of the -Duchess. Her Grace confided much in the wisdom and advice of Lord Cromartie and his son, Lord Royston, as to the management of her extensive estates in Scotland. The greater number of the letters from the Duchess are subscribed by her A. B. C, for Anne Buccleuch and Cornwallis. In her own right she was Anne Duchess of Buccleuch. After her marriage with Lord Cornwallis, she usually signed "A. B. C." She assures Lord Tarbat how acceptable his letters are, and that her friendship for him, which began in childhood, would not alter with age. In another work I printed a collection of thirty letters addressed by the Duchess to Sir James Mackenzie, Lord fci

PREFACE.

Eoyston,1 and also added a short Memoir of the Duchess.2 Her Grace was the lady to whom Sir Walter Scott made his " Last Minstrel " recite or sing his famous " Lay." The allusion in the Introduction to the kindness of the

Duchess to the aged minstrel is very touching: —

" The Duchess marked his weary pace, His timid mien, aud reverend face, And bade her page the menials tell, .

That they should tend the old man well : For she had known adversity, Though born in such a high degree ; In pride of power, in beauty's bloom, Had wept o'er Monmouth's bloody tomb ! "

In another Family Book with which I have made some progress, I hope to be able to give a Memoir of the sagacious Duchess.

The Correspondence of the third Earl of Cromartie includes many letters written during the Insurrection of 1745-6, by Sir Thomas Sheridan and Colonel "John O'Sulivan, who attended Prince Charles Edward. These letters throw much light on the operations of the Highlanders in that ill-fated expedition.

The letters of Simon Lord Lovat contain several new touches of that versatile genius, although his correspondence is already well known from the previous publication of many of his letters. The present Collection affords good specimens of his Lordship's peculiar style of epistolary correspondence, which is usually characterised by extravagant protestations of friendship, flattery, and servility. At the conclusion of his letters, Lord Lovat was to his correspondents often a " faithful slave," while to Duncan Forbes, whom he addressed as his " Dear General," as figurative of his high official position, Lovat, in mock humility, subscribed himself as his " devoted Corporal." Yet with these faults, there is often a copiousness of language, as well as a learning and originality that mark a vigorous mind and bespeak the scholar. Writing

1 The Red Book of Grandtully, vol. ii. pp. 301-319. 2 Ibid. vol. i. p. ccxxi.

SIMON LORD LOVAT. ijjf to the Earl of Cromartie in 1743, on his recovery from an illness with which he was seized after a visit to Lord Lovat at Beaufort, his Lordship says : —

" Since I had the use of reason, I never received two letters that gave me so much joy, so much pleasure, and so much comfort, as the two letters that I had the honour to receive from your lordship this day. . . . As my fears and concern were beyond expression when 1 was acquainted with your lordship's illness, so, I thank God, my satisfaction and joy are now complete in finding your lordship recover'd : . . . and I wish from my heart and soul that your lordship may be restor'd to perfect health, and live at least for as many years as your grandfather did. I do assure you, my dear Earl, that I wish this as much as I do my own health and life ; and I wish I may have no life the day that I am not faithfully attach'd to your lordship's person and interest."1

The year 1745, which was so eventful and disastrous both to Lovat and

his correspondent, was begun with warm congratulations by his Lordship : —

" Allow me, my dearest earl, on the begining of this new year, to asure your lordship and the worthy Countess of Cromarty, and all your most lovely family, of my most humble, most affectionate, and everlasting respects. May God preserve your person, and the worthy Countess of Cromarty, in perfect health, and with all manner of prosperity, untill at least you see your great-grandchildren, which you may do without being so old as your great-grandfather, who retained his vast judgment and reason to his dying hour."

In the same letter, Lovat refers to the contemplated changes in high quarters. He pretends not to understand them, and says that they are as incomprehensible as the greatest mysteries of nature and religion. But he adds that though honest men should turn knaves, he is determined to preserve his integrity till the conflagration.2

In April of the same year a daughter was born to Lady Cromartie. That event afforded Lovat an opportunity of congratulating the Countess in his best style. He said that he honoured and respected her beyond all the Countesses in Scotland, and " I wish your lordship joy, with all my heart, of this new infanta, as ane additionall beauty to your lordship's lovely family. It is certain that your lordship's family is already the most beautifull in the King's dominions."3 till PREFACE.

This praise of beauty was not without foundation. Isabella Gordon, the Countess of George third Earl of Cromartie, was popularly styled " Bonnie Bell Gordon," and it was the beauty of her family that Lovat extolled so highly. Nor was it only in that generation that beauty appeared. The features of the second Earl of Cromartie, as shown in his portrait, are certainly very handsome, and his second sister, Lady Elizabeth Mackenzie, who was wife to Sir George Broun of Coalston, in East Lothian, was so very beautiful, that whenever she appeared in the streets of Edinburgh crowds of people actually followed her, in admiration of her beauty. She was the Lady Coalston, who is reported, out of feminine curiosity, to have bit out a part of the famous Coalston pear, and thereby caused the loss of a portion of the Coalston property, which was previously held intact by the supposed charm of the celebrated pear of fabulous antiquity.1

In another letter to Lord Cromartie, Lord Lovat says — " My son has taken a military freak : he is going, whether I will or not, with all of the name of Fraser that are fitt for it, to join the adventureing Prince. You may be sure, my dearest earl, this must affect me, because my son is the hope of my family, and the dareling of my soul." 2

In a notice of the "Culloden Papers" which appeared in the "Edinburgh Eeview," in February 1816, Lord Lovat is represented as a "feudal savage," " a brutal provincial tyrant," and a " monster." These are strong expressions from the pen of a writer so graceful as Lord Cockburn, to whom the notice is attributed. It is difficult to believe that this was the true character of Lord Lovat, as his neighbours and friends in the highest position joined with him in cordial intimacy and social friendship. His best biographer says that he was a laced courtier welcomed by the first circles in Europe ; and as a specimen of the different opinions formed of Lovat by his contemporaries,

1 Information by Her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland. 2 Vol. ii. p. 313.

DUNCAN FORBES ON TEA-DRINKING. \%

he quotes the letter of a gentleman who lamented the death of Lovat as one of the ablest men, of the soundest head, firmest mind, and best heart that our country has at any time produced.1 The " Culloden Papers" above alluded to, and in which several letters of Lord Lovat are printed, contain an amusing instance of the alarm of so good a man as Duncan Forbes at the general use of tea, and the injury that would happen to the agricultural interest by that drug, as he called it, superseding the former beverage of ale made from malt. He thus states the evil as he thought it : — " The cause of the mischief we complain of is evidently the excessive use of tea, which is now become so common that the meanest families, even of labouring people, particularly in burroughs, make their morning meal of it, and thereby wholly disuse the ale which heretofore was their accustomed drink ; and the same drug supplies all the labouring women with their afternoon's entertainments, to the exclusion of the twopenny."2 The Lord President further enlarges on the absurdity of cobblers and their wives gravely sitting down to drink tea. He characterises in his paper the tea-drinkings as " villanous " and " rascally " practices. The worth and wisdom of the Lord President Forbes are much and justly extolled. But his tirade against

1 Mr. Burton's life of Lord Lovat, vol. i. p. of pulling down his family seat of Brahan

267. — Highland chiefs were supposed to have Castle. In the History of England by Lord

omnipotent authority over their Clan, and Lord Mahon, afterwards the late Earl Stanhope,

Lovat is one who is often quoted in corrohora- he notes that in the expedition for the inva-

tion of this. But the incautious remark of the sion of Scotland in 1719, according to "San

young chief of Clanronald, who was brought Phelipe, Lord Seaforth went to Bracaam. But

up as a foster son in the family of Lord Lovat, what place he means by Bracaam is beyond

was a remarkable exception. A profuse my skill to divine." Lord Stanhope might

slaughter of Highland cattle having been made have learned that Brahan Castle was obviously

on the coming of age of young Clanronald, he alluded to, and that the various spellings,

remarked that afewhenswouldhavebeen sum- even in the title-deeds of that estate, such as

cient. This irritated the Clan, who speedily " Brawine," etc., differ more from the present

dethroned the " Hen-chief," as he was called. mode than the one which he quotes from San

The Clan Mackenzie also forcibly compelled Phelipe.

their Chief Seaforth to desist from his purpose 2 Culloden Papers, p. 190.

PREFACE.

tea, under the plea of promoting ale, raises the idea that he was afraid of his own famous Ferintosh whisky, of which, it is stated in the " Culloden Papers," more was made than in all the rest of Scotland, and that it yielded the President an annual income of about £18,000.

One of the noblest letters in the entire collection of the Cromartie Correspondence is that which was written to the third Earl of Cromartie by his son, Lord Macleod, announcing his intention of going into foreign service to push his fortune as a soldier.1 The " poor boy," as his uncle, Sir John Gordon, called him, when he went abroad, had not sufficient means for his outfit, which had to be supplied by his friends. After his successful, chivalrous, and even romantic career abroad, he returned and was able to raise the popular regiment named after him, the Macleod Highlanders.

The First Volume, in addition to the Correspondence, contains the Memoirs of the Tarbat or Cromartie Branch of the Mackenzie Family, with an Introduction on the Origin of the Mackenzies, a subject which has caused much discussion. The Memoir of the first Earl of Cromartie comprehends the whole of his official and domestic life, with an account of his numerous literary works, and he is necessarily the most prominent figure in the book. The memoirs of his immediate ancestors, his father, Sir John, and his grandfather, Sir Eorie Mackenzie, are given comprehensively, as well as the memoirs of his immediate successors, the second and third Earls of Cromartie, and of the eldest son of the latter, John Lord Macleod.

The Second Volume, besides the Correspondence already mentioned, contains a selection of ancient Charters, chiefly connected with the Earldom of Eoss, Patents of Honour, also notices of the Grandvale and Cromartie and

NARRATIVE OF THE REBELLION IN 1745. %\

Eoyston branches of the Mackenzies, and two Narratives written by John Lord Macleod. One of these gives an account of the Insurrection in Scotland in the year 1745-46, and the other, which is written in French, of the first campaign in 1757 of the Seven Years' War in Germany. Both in the Insurrection in Scotland and the campaign in Germany, Lord Macleod, although then a young man, took an active part, and his Narratives have all the freshness of description of a participator in the events which he describes.

The story of the Eebellion of 1745-46 has been so often told by historians, and the subject so much exhausted, that it is now difficult to discover anything new and original about it. But Lord Macleod's Narrative has never been published, and it, as well as his other Narrative, was unknown to the family until I found them among a number of Tarbat papers. Facsimiles of two portions of the Narrative are given. These contain an account of the first interview between Prince Charles Edward and Lord Macleod. The first of the Narratives is a new contribution to the history of an Insurrection, in which the third Earl of Cromartie and his son, Lord Macleod, were deeply engaged, and for which the Earl forfeited his honours and estates. That forfeiture caused a long eclipse of the family till the estates were graciously restored to Lord Macleod for his meritorious services in the army. After the lapse of nearly a century, new honours, with nearly the old names, have been conferred on the present representative of the family.

The letter which was written by Prince Charles Edward to George third Earl of Cromartie on his landing at Boradale in August 1745, inviting his Lordship to join the Boyal Standard, which was to be set up at Glenfinan on the 19th of that month, had also been overlooked amongst useless papers at Tarbat. It is printed, with a lithograph, in the Memoir of the third Earl.

The first Earl of Cromartie, while Sir George Mackenzie, wrote a history of the Mackenzie family, which is titled " A genealogie of the Mackenzies ril PREFACE.

preceding the year 1661, wreattin in the year 1669, by a Persone of Qualitie." The original manuscript of that history is not known to exist, but many copies are preserved, particularly in families of the name of Mackenzie. From one of these an impression of fifty copies was printed in the year 1829, in quarto (16 pp.), by Mr. John Whitefoord Mackenzie, W.S., a great lover of books, and the possessor of one of the choicest libraries in Edinburgh. The last paper in the Second Volume is another History of the Mackenzies, also written by Lord Cromartie. It is much longer than that of 1669. The original manuscript of the larger history was also lost, and had been for many years out of the family repositories. After the present work had been arranged, and the greater part of both Volumes printed, this manuscript was recovered. It is imperfect and incomplete. Lord Cromartie appears to have dictated portions of the History to an amanuensis who was not familiar with the names, and had apparently often misunderstood what his Lordship said. The manuscript thus contains many clerical errors. In printing it, the original has been adhered to, but where such errors are obvious, corrections are generally indicated by brackets. The History ends abruptly. But during a careful search at Tarbat House, I was unable to discover any more of it. The fragment now printed, although incomplete, is a valuable addition to the history of the numerous Clan Mackenzie.

Another History of the Mackenzies is that of Dr. George Mackenzie, which was written about the year 1725. The Doctor was also the author of " The Lives and Characters of the Most Eminent Writers of the Scots ^Nation," a work of great research, in three volumes, folio, which were published successively in 1708, 1711, and 1722. He was a son of the Honourable Colin Mackenzie, second son of the second Earl of Seaforth. His History of the Mackenzie Family was never published, but copies of it are found in the libraries of several of the Mackenzies.

HISTORIES OF THE MAGKENZIES. $\i\

The other Historians of the Family of Mackenzie were John Mackenzie of Fairburn, John Mackenzie of Applecross, Mackenzie of Eedcastle, and Hector Mackenzie, 1710. None of these Histories has ever been published, with the exception of a portion of that by Applecross, which was printed at the office of the " Dingwall Advertiser," in the year 1843, pp. 19, folio. That print also included the short History by Lord Cromartie, written in the year 1669 ; but not having been distinguished from the Applecross portion, which chiefly refers to the branches of the Mackenzies, the whole is called by the name of the History by Applecross.1

The two places or properties of the same name of Cromartie require a word of explanation. The barony of Cromartie, which is situated locally at and around the town, and in the parish and county of Cromartie proper, was originally the Crwmbawchty of which Macbeth was reputed Thane before he became King of Scotland. The spellings of the name of Cromartie were very various : — Crumbathyn, Cromarte, Cromardy, etc. etc. Fordun says that the Northern or Crombathy Firth, by reason of the excellence of its holding ground, gets the name of Zikirsount from seamen. In the thirteenth century the family of Mouat, then de Monte Alto, were the owners of Cromartie, and in the beginning of the following century Cromartie had accrued to King Eobert the Bruce, probably from the Mouats submitting to Edward of England. Bruce granted Cromartie to Sir Hugh Eoss, eldest son of William Earl of Eoss. The Earl of Eoss gave Cromartie to Adam Urquhart, and with his descendants it remained for many generations.

1 Amongst the documents produced in the Mackenzie of Woodside, entitled, ' Genealogy

service of Mr. Mackenzie of Allangrange, as of the Chiefs of the name of Mackenzie since

the heir-male of the Earls of Seaforth in 1S29, their coming into Scotland, containing 136

was one described as "an original MS., bound pages, with one index of 15 pages.' " in parchment cover, belonging to Alexander

Xt\> PREFACE.

William Urquhart of Cromartie, who was the representative of the family in the time of King James the Third, received from the King the following warrant to build a castle on the Moot Hill of Cromartie : —

Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromartie was a celebrated Knight. He was the son of Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromartie and the Honourable Christian Elphinstone, daughter of Alexander fourth Lord Elphinstone, and was born in the year 1613. Amongst the other gifts of Sir Thomas, the son. was that of a great genealogical genius. He traced his family from Adam and Noah in an unbroken line of descent. When he was questioned about the accuracy

1 Original Warrant, Seaforth Forfeited notice after the chapter on the Castle and Estate Papers, Register House. The above barony of Cromartie had been printed, interesting warrant only came under my

TWO G ROM ARTIES AND TWO SIR GEORGE MACKENZIES. %\i

of his pedigree, which was considered but lusus ingenii, Sir Thomas was wont to remark that the present age would mock that genealogy, the succeeding age would doubt it, and the third would be heavily inclined to believe it.

The other property of Cromartie is that which was inherited and formed by the first Earl of Cromartie, separate from the original Crombathyn or Cromartie above referred to. The Cromartie-Mackenzie estate consisted of Tarbat, Castleleod, Strathpeffer, Coigeach, and other lands in Eoss-shire, which were disjoined from the shire of Eoss and annexed, by Act of Parliament, to the shire of Cromartie. With the exception of Tarbat and some others which were sold, these estates are still known by the name of Cromartie, and the proprietors are designated of Cromartie in the same way as the proprietors of the other estate are also designated of Cromarty, the only difference being that the latter call their property Croman!?/, while the final termination of the other is tie. Both are idem sonans, and the difference is very small after the great variations which have occurred since the Crwinbawchty of Macbeth.

Two persons of the same name, as well as the two properties, also require a word of explanation. These are Sir George Mackenzie, Lord Tarbat, afterwards Earl of Cromartie, and Sir George Mackenzie of Eosehaugh, Lord Advocate to King Charles the Second. Being of the same Christian and surnames, both connected with Eoss-shire, and contemporaries in the public service, they have been frequently mistaken, the one for the other.

Lord Tarbat was born in 1630, six years before his kinsman the Lord Advocate, whom he survived for twenty-two years. They were frequently associated in the public transactions of the reign of King Charles the Second, and the subscriptions of their names are to be found alongside each other in public documents. The following woodcuts afford a specimen of these. The xbi

PREFACE.

first signature is that of Sir George Mackenzie the Lord Advocate, and the second is that of Sir George Mackenzie, Lord Tarbat.

^Urf&'lgr

It will be observed that the signature of the former of the first half of his surname is Mac in full, while the latter is Mc. This difference is one way of identifying these two public officers of the same name.

The profession of the law has often been a favourite and successful one with persons of the name of Mackenzie. Besides the two Sir George Mackenzies now mentioned, Eoderick Mackenzie, Lord Prestonhall and Lord Justice-Clerk, and Sir James Mackenzie, Lord Eoyston, were both younger sons of the Tarbat branch. Within my own time I have known three Lords of Session under the title of Lord Mackenzie. The first was Joshua Henry Mackenzie, an able, upright, and amiable judge, with much of the mildness of manner of his father, the author of the " Man of Feeling." The second was Thomas Mackenzie, author of "Studies in the Eoman Law," and an able lawyer.1 The third was the late Donald Mackenzie, a very accomplished judge and genial gentleman, whose too early removal has been much lamented.