THE SCOURY MACKAYS

See Pedigree Table D

1. Donald Balloch, son of XII Iye Du Mackay of Strathnaver by his wife and cousin, Helen, daughter of Hugh Macleod of Assynt, was the first of this family.

[Footnote: Donald Balloch means Donald of the Spot - a birth-mark probably]

In 1500 he played the part of a skilful and gallant leader at the battle of Clynetradwell, near Brora, saving the situation for the Earl of Caithness whom he assisted that day. He had under his command a strong force of archers drawn from Assynt, Strathnaver, Caithness, and Orkney, who were three times thrown into confusion and as often reformed by Donald Balloch, whose personal prowess at last turned the tardy scale of victory to the admiration of even his fierce opponents (Earldom of Sutherland).

He had a charter of Alienation from his brother, XIII Huistean Du of Strathnaver, of the town and lands of Kinlochbervie, Scouriemore, Scouriebeg, Eriboll, etc., 31st Dec 1605 (Reay Papers). He married Euphemia, daughter of Hugh Munro of Assint, Ross, a brother of Robert Munro of Fowlis, and granted her sasine in liferent and to their elder son, Neil, in feu of the above lands, 25th Feb 1606. The issue of this marriage was four sons and four daughters: -

1. Neil, had sasine of his father's estate on a Precept of clare constat, 19th Apr 1620, and on the same day, with consent of his brother Hugh, resigned "for ane great sum of money from his superior, Sir Donald Maky, all and sundrie the lands of Keandloichberwie, Nahardin, Fanzidell, Laxfourd with ye salmond fescheing of ye samyne, Scowriebeg, Scowriemoir, Tarbet, Caldstrombeg, Caldstromemoir, Edderachylis, Islanhanda, Saudowatt, Alschelourbeg, Alschleormoir, Yrsgill, Badcall, Dowart, Naferss (?), Geiskill, lyand betwix the merches of the water of Kylescoug at ye sowthe, ye fylm of Glencowiles and the mainesey at ye wast and northe plis, the Beallache of Corriechowne at ye eist sd. And all and heal the half dawache landis of Ilanryr and dawache landis of Erbill wt ye lands of Ilandchory, lyand within ye baronie of Wastmoine." (Reay Papers).
2. Hugh of Scoury
3. Donald of Borley
4. William, Captain in the 1st Lord Reay's Scots regiment serving in the Thirty Years War. He afterwards became Lieut.-Col. of a Swedish regiment, and fell at Lutzen, near Leipzig, in 1632, where also fell King Gustavus Adolphus, under whose banner he fought.
5. Margaret, married Alexander Sutherland of Kilphedder
6. Janet, married William Mor, son of Neil MacEan MacWilliam, the Aberach chieftain
7. Christian, married Murdo, eldest son of Neil MacEan MacWilliam, the Aberach chieftain
8. Ann, married John Tarrel of Strathflete

"Be it kend till all men be thir put. lrs. Me, Donald Lord Rae, heritable proprietor of the lands and others, and for certain great soumes of money reallis and with effect advancit, payed, and delyvered to me for making of thir puts, be our trustie cousing, Hew Makie of Ereboll, of the qlk. soumes of money we hold us weill contentit, completely satisfied and payed, and renuncing the exceptione of non numeratio money, aith of pairty, and all uther exceptions competent be the law, we exoner and discharge the said Hew Makie his airs and excrs. of the samen be thir presentis simpliciter and for ever, to have saule and in few ferme and heritage analret and dispontit, Lykeas we for the onerous causes forsaid instantly and in few ferme and heritage sell, annalzrie, and dispone to the said Hew Makie his airs maill and assigneys, heretablie, irredemablie, and bot onie kyne of reversione, rogress, or redemption qlksomever, All and sundrie the lands, feschings, woods, and grassings of Edderachilis with their pertinents whatsumever undermentioned, viz., All and heal the davach lands of Killstromes, the lands of Douartmoir, Dourtbeg, the lands of Geiskill, the lands of Badchuill, the lands of Skouriemore, Skouriebeg, the lands of Tarbeit, the lands of Ffynidew, the lands of Rieroy, the lands of Auchtavikfarie, All and heal the ylland of Handa, with all and sundrie the yllands of Dewroy, Mell-alands, Galway, with all the other yllands qtsomever lyand betwixt the Stoirhead in Assin at the west and the river of Laxford at the eist, with which the lands are boundit, and that as follows, viz., Glencoul and Killkaik at the south and south-west, the sea at the north till the water at Laxfuird and as the said water of Laxfuird descends from Knockan-Kelloch and fra that to Loichmore and to Lochstak and therefrae to the sea, which waters as they run from Knockan-Kelloch to the sea are the marches cognoscit to devyd the said lands of Eddruchilis from Diridmore and the Ard …all lyand within the parrochein of Ardierurness, in Strathnaver, and shirriffdom of Sutherland."

In 1643 Scoury was appointed a commissioner of supply for the shire of Sutherland, and in 1648 a member of the War Committee (Acts of Parliament). In 1649 he was taken prisoner at Balveny Castle, and in 1650 was appointed by Parliament colonel of a Fencible regiment to be raised in the north, and again in 1661 was re-appointed a commissioner of supply (Acts of Parliament, and Balfour's Annals). For the part which he took in supporting Charles II his estate was apprised in payment of fines and pretended debts, but General Mackay, his son and successor, managed to clear away these encumbrances.

He married Ann, daughter of John Corbet of Arkboll, Ross, and had issue six sons and three daughters: -

1. Donald, who died young (Blk. MS.)
2. William, who was driven ashore near Thurso by stress of weather, 14th Feb 1668, cast into a foul dungeon in said town, and after some days of cruel confinement put aboard an open boat which set out for Scoury, but he died on the passage. This barbarous treatment was due to a feud between the Mackays and the Sinclairs at the time.
3. Hector, waylaid and murdered in Aberdeenshire by Sinclair of Dunbeath and three others, 11th Aug 1668. In consequence of these misdeeds, the Mackays obtained Letters of Fire and Sword against the Sinclairs, as we show in our memoir of the 2nd Lord Reay.
4. General Hugh Mackay
5. Col. James, killed at Killicrankie
6. Roderick, who took the oath as Provost-Marshal of the Scots regiment in Holland, 11th Jun 1677
7. Barbara, who became the second wife of the 2nd Lord Reay;
8. Elizabeth, married Hugh Munro of Eriboll (and had an elder son John, who disponed Eriboll to Captain Mackay of Borley in 1700, and married Rachel, daughter of Angus Mackay IV. of Bighouse);
9. Ann, married the Hon. William Mackay of Kinloch, son of Donald, 1st Lord Reay, with issue given already.

He married at Bommel in Guelderland Clara de Bie, a Dutch lady of noble extraction, and had issue a son and three daughters: -

1. Hugh
2. Margaret, married George, 3rd Lord Reay, with issue
3. Anna Barbara, married Mr. Reyard, minister of Nimeguen
4. Mary, married Mathew Linyindeck, burgomaster of Nimeguen

1. Hugh
2. Gabriel, became captain in Halket's Scots regiment 20th Nov 1730, colonel 1st April, 1748, and was dead in 1758 (Scots Brigade in Holland).
3. Clara Margaret, married Baron Ren Duyck, and had issue: - James Charles Ren Duyck, married Baroness Louisa Neuvenherm, with issue; and Anna, married Major General J. W. Van der Hup, and had issue living in 1828 (Blk. MS.).

Anna Louisa Mackay, married Lieut.-General Prevost, colonel of the 60th Foot, and Lord of Belsinge in the Republic of Genoa. On the 5th Sep 1775, General Prevost "obtained his Majesty's Royal Licence and authority for himself and his issue by his wife Anne Louisa, to assume and take the surname of Mackay, and also to bear the arms of Mackay of Scoury in the shire of Sutherland, pursuant to the will of Hugh Mackay of Scoury, Esqr., deceased at Breda, late lieut.-general and colonel of his Majesty's regiment of Infantry in the service of the States General" (London Gazette, Sep 1775, and Blk. MS.).
They had issue: - James Mackay-Prevost, lieut.-general in the 60th Foot, 19th Aug 1777; and two daughters

IIa. Donald Mackay of Borley, Durness, third son of Donald Balloch of Scoury, resided for some time at Iddenmore in the same parish. He was along with Lord Reay at the affair of Balveny in 1649, and was a prominent Royalist.
He married Christiana, daughter of the Rev. Robert Munro, Creich, Sutherland, and had known issue four sons: -

1. William
2. Angus
3. Major Iye of Keoldale, married first, Eupham Mackay, who bore him: - John in Balmulich, Durness, 1723; Hugh; Anna, married Hector Munro; and Christina. He also married a second time.
4. Donald

1. Captain Hugh
2. Donald, whose connection with the Darien expedition we described in our memoir of the 3rd Lord Reay
3. Rev. John, of Lairg
4. Elizabeth, married first, the Hon. Charles Mackay of Sandwood, secondly, Robert Neilson Aberach Mackay and thirdly, John Grey of Rhine, Rogart, who gave her sasine in life-rent of the lands of Rhine in virtue of their contract of marriage, 2nd Dec 1707.
5. Barbara, married Hector Mackay of Skerray
6. Christina, married Hugh Munro of Achany, and had sasine of Achany, etc., in life-rent, 3rd Feb 1691.
7. Isobell, married John Mackay of Melness
8. Jane, married Murdo, eldest son of Robert, son of Murdo Neilson, the Aberach chieftain.

1. Hugh, who died unmarried before 1719
2. Patrick
3. John of Tordarroch, Dornoch, married Jane, daughter of George Gray of Skibo by his second wife, Betty, a daughter of Sir James Dalrymple. He sold the lands of Tordarroch to the Earl of Sutherland, 25th May 1758. They had two sons and two daughters: -
   1. George, an ensign in the Earl of Sutherland's regiment obtained a company in the 60th Royal American regiment, 1778. He married Mary, daughter of Colonel Houston of the Scots Brigade in Holland, who bore him Lieut. Robert of the 78th Highlanders, died unmarried; and Hugh, died unmarried.
   2. Hugh, entered the army of the H.E.I.C. in 1766, and died in 1768
   3. Jane, died unmarried
   4. Elizabeth, died unmarried
4. Barbara, first wife of George Gray of Skibo, had sasine in virtue of her contract of marriage, 31st Jul 1716, of the lands of Cuthel, Hiltoun, Achlach, and the Mains of Skibo.
5. William, emigrated to Georgia
6. George, a writer at Edinburgh, 1731
7. Donald, a merchant in London
8. Robert, a merchant in Rotterdam
9. Angus
10. Elizabeth

IVb. Rev. John Mackay, third son of Captain William of Borley, finished his theological course at Utrecht, Holland, in 1704, and in 1706 became minister of Durness. In 1714 he was translated to the parish of Lairg, where he laboured till his death in 1753. The moral and spiritual condition of Lairg at his settlement was lamentably low, but under his fostering care a great change came over the people. He was known as Am Ministear Laidir, the Strong Minister, a powerful athlete who often found his strength useful in chastising obstreperous members of his flock, and taught them to respect his arm as well as his piety. In those wild times, when ministers had sometimes to go to the pulpit with a brace of pistols in their belts, he was just the man needed.

[Footnote: The interested reader should consult a paper by the Rev. Dr. MacGillivray, Roseburn Free Church, Edinburgh, as an appendix to the Wreck of the Juno, edited by Mr. Alexander Mackay, 20 St. Andrew's Square, Edinburgh. The booklet is published under the auspices of the Clan Mackay Society, and is well worthy of a large circle of north country readers.]

He married (contract 29th Aug 1709) Catherine, eldest daughter of John Mackay of Kirtomy, and had issue the four children mentioned below, besides others who died young.

1. Rev. Thomas, minister of Lairg
2. Elizabeth, married the Rev. Angus Sage, Locharron, and had issue: -
   1. Rev. Alexander Sage, Kildonan, whose son, the Rev. Donald Sage, was the author of Memorabilia Domestica, published at Wick by the Messrs Rae a few years ago. To those interested in our northern history it is delightful reading.
   2. Catherine Sage, married Captain Charles Gordon of Skelpick, with issue.
   3. Mary Sage, married Donald Kennedy, Applecross, and had the Rev. George Kennedy, Dornoch, one of whose sons, the Rev. Dr. Kennedy, lately U.F. minister, Callander, is now (1905) a professor in Canada.
3. Janet Mackay, married John Polson, Navidale, and had issue: -
   1. Captain William Polson of the Virginia Eangers, killed at the battle of Monogahela Eiver in 1755.
   2. John Polson, lieut. of the 60th Foot, afterwards major of the Gordon Highlanders. He was severely wounded at the Monogahela River, and greatly distinguished himself at the capture of Fort St. Juan, 1780, when Captain Nelson, afterwards Lord Nelson, warmly thanked him. He died at Exeter, Devon, 1st Jul 1815.
   3. Hugh Polson, appointed Provost of the Vice-Admiralty Court, Jamaica, 7th Dec 1774.
4. Barbara Mackay, married Rev. George Munro, minister of Farr 1754-80, and had issue Mary, who died unmarried at Dornoch.

1. John Mackay of Rockfield
2. Hugh, who entered the army of the H.E.I.C. and became captain of the 4th Native Cavalry. When the Mahratha War broke out he took the field under General Wellesly, afterwards Duke of Wellington, and was temporarily appointed chief of the Commissariat, a post which he held on the eve of the battle of Assaye. At this juncture, when the small British force numbered only 4600, and had opposed to it 50,000, of whom 10,000 were disciplined and led by French officers, Captain Mackay could not brook the idea of remaining in the rear at commissariat work. On the evening before the battle of Assaye, Wellington's first great victory, he wrote the adjutant-general asking permission to join his old regiment in the impending fight, but was told that he could not be spared from his other duties Captain Mackay realised that to disobey was to forfeit his commission at the very least, but when next day he saw his old regiment lining up with the 19th Dragoons to deliver what appeared to be a forlorn charge, he galloped to the head of his troop and led them straight for the enemy's guns. This wild charge sealed the fate of the day, but Mackay fell in the hour of victory. In Colonel Welch's Reminiscences it is recorded: - "By a noble act of disobedience, Mackay joined his corps; and, leading the charge of his own regiment in a line with the leading squadron of the noble veterans of the 19th Dragoons, Mackay rode up to the enemy's guns and fell, man and horse, at their very muzzles … When in the heat of the pursuit news was brought to Wellington that Captain Hugh Mackay was killed, his countenance changed, and the tears which fell from his eyes were nature's involuntary tribute to a kindred spirit. Shortly afterwards, Wellington in a dispatch did ample justice to Mackay's character."
   This battle was fought on 23rd Sep 1803, but twelve years later, and a few days after Waterloo, Wellington wrote John, Captain Mackay's brother, offering a commission to his nephew as a tribute of respect to the memory of one of the heroes of Assaye. On the field where he fell there stands a monument to his memory - the only one there, we understand - erected by his admiring comrades-in-arms.
3. William, who went to sea, wrote the Wreck of the Juno already referred to. This narrative greatly interested Lord Byron, and some of his finest passages in Don Juan descriptive of a ship-wreck is based upon Mackay's account. Thomas Moore, Byron's biographer, thus writes of Mackay's production: - "It will be felt, I think, by every reader, that this is one of the instances in which poetry must be content to yield the palm to prose. There is a pathos in the last sentences of the seaman's recital which the artifices of metre and rhyme were sure to disturb, and which, indeed, no verses, however beautiful, could half so beautifully and powerfully express."
   He became captain of the Perseverance, and afterwards of the Daniel. In 1801 he made a voyage up the Red Sea with stores for General Baird's army in Egypt, during which he made a splendid display of seamanship, saving the Real Fidelissimo, which had on board a detachment of the 86th Foot. He died at Calcutta, unmarried, 27th Mar 1804.
4. Catherine Mackay, married Captain Donald Mathieson of Shiness, Lairg, and had issue: -
   1. Sheriff Duncan Mathieson
   2. Sir James Mathieson, who purchased the Lews
   3. Captain Thomas Mathieson of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers
   4. Also some daughters

IIIc. Angus, second son of Donald Mackay of Borley. He commanded a company at Killicrankie, where he fell.
He married first, Christina, daughter of Angus Mackay of Kinnisid, by whom he had: -

1. Hugh, died unmarried
2. John
3. William

1. Hugh, who disponed his wadset of Skinit to his brother, Donald, 1699
2. Donald of Skinit, afterwards in Ribigill, married Esther Gunn, and had an elder son Angus, who had a son William in Ribigill in 1769.
   Donald of Skinit is also believed to have been the father of Hugh of Kirkiboll (See EXCURSUS below.)
3. George
4. John

IVc. Lieut. William, third son of Angus Mackay by his first wife. In The House and Clan of Mackay he is said to have been married twice, and to have had two sons: -

1. John
2. George, an exciseman in Greenock, about 1818, who afterwards lived at Stewart-Hall, Bute, but had no issue.

1. William
2. Bessie Mackay, married Hugh Mackay of Dalangclale, Strathy, but no issue.
3. Jane Mackay, married Robert Mackay, an Aberach, and had issue an only daughter, Euphemia Mackay, who married Peter Smith, a Glasgow merchant, and had issue: -
   1. Robert Mackay Smith, a great patron of science (See a paper by Prof. Swan in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Edinburgh, 15th May 1889)
   2. George Mackay Smith
   3. Jane Mackay Smith
   4. Euphemia Smith
   5. Peter Smith
   6. Isabella (Mrs. Suverkrop), died 1903
   7. Elizabeth

VIIc. John Mackay, was born in Scotland, 13th Feb 1800, married in Prince Edward's Island - Sibla, daughter of Lieut. John Mackenzie.
He emigrated in 1838 to New South Wales, and died at Newcastle there, 11th Nov 1851, leaving issue four sons and four daughters: -

1. George
2. John Kenneth, grazier, Dungog, N.S. Wales, born 1828, married Isabella Hooke, issue two sons: - John Kenneth; and William H., grazier, Anambah, West Maitland, N.S. Wales, married his cousin Adelaide, daughter of Augustus Hooke by Louisa Barbara Mackay, with issue (William; John; Emily; and Violet).
3. Duncan Forbes Mackay, who died at Dulcalmah, N.S.W., 1887, married Lenora Hooke, issue seven children: - Duncan; Louis; Ada (Mrs. George Peele); Mary Anne; Agnes; Alma; and Ethel.
4. Charles Boyce Mackay, born 5th Jan 1837, a stockman, Dungog, married Alice Cutler, and has two sons and five daughters.: - Charles; Kenneth; Anne; Amelia; Alice Margaret; Louisa; and Eva Augusta.
5. Jane Mackay, married Vincent T. W. Dowling, Cannigalla., N.S. Wales, and had issue: - Vincent; James; John; Alfred; Maria; Eliza; Emily; and Sybla.
6. Jessie Johanna Mackay, married George James Cobb, Anambah, and had issue: - John; George, married a Miss Campbell; Charles, married a Miss Campbell; Kenneth; Emily; and Sarah.
7. Amelia Caroline Mackay, married Edward Sparke, Hexam, N.S. Wales, of the firm of "Sparke and Clift". She died in 1888, leaving issue: - William; John; Emma; Ellen; Mary; Alma; and Edith.
8. Louisa Barbara Mackay, married Augustus Hooke, and has issue: - Augustus; Adelaide, married William H. Mackay, her cousin; Sybella; and Louisa.

1. George Alexander
2. Sybla J. Mackay, married Frederick A. Hooke, Dingadee, N.S. Wales, 18th Nov 1874, and has issue: - John; George; Frederick; Alexander; Benjamin; Harold; James; Mary; and Augustus
3. Mary
4. Anne

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