Читать книгу Gairloch in North-West Ross-Shire - John H. Dixon - Страница 45

Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, eldest son of Alexander, seventh laird of Gairloch, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia by Queen Anne on 2d February 1703. These baronetcies were frequently conferred upon proprietors who assisted in peopling Nova Scotia, then an object of great solicitude with the crown, so that it is possible the first baronet of Gairloch, or his father, may have promoted emigration among the Gairloch people. He was educated at Oxford, and represented Ross-shire in the Scottish Parliament, where he strongly opposed the Union. When in Gairloch he lived at the Stankhouse. He had six children. He died in December 1703, aged only thirty-two, and was buried in Gairloch in the old chapel within the churchyard, which was the burial-place of the family. This old chapel was roofed in 1704. The sum of thirty merks was then expended in "harling, pinning, and thatching Gairloch's burial place." At his death Sir Kenneth was deeply involved in debt.

Sir Alexander, eldest son of the first baronet, became the ninth laird of Gairloch when only three years of age. For want of means he and his sister Anne had to be brought up in tenants' houses. During his long minority some of the debts were paid off. In 1712 he was sent to the school at Chanonry, and after six years there he went to Edinburgh to complete his education. He afterwards made a foreign tour, and on his return in 1730 married his cousin Janet of Scatwell, by whom he had nine children. He was called by his people Seann Tighearna, and seems to have resided mostly in Gairloch, for latterly his lady lived alone at Kinkell. In 1738 he pulled down the Stankhouse, which stood in a low marshy situation on the site of the old Tigh Dige, and built the present Flowerdale House on a raised plateau surrounded by charming woods and rugged hills, and with a southern aspect. The glen here was a perfect jungle of wild flowers before the introduction, long after this time, of sheep farming, and so Sir Alexander appropriately gave the name of Flowerdale to his new chateau.

The attempt of the unfortunate Prince Charlie to regain the throne of his ancestors occurred in the time of Sir Alexander. This prudent cautious baronet kept out of the "Forty-five," though some of his people fought with their fellow Highlanders at the fatal battle of Culloden.

It was shortly after that battle, when Prince Charlie was hiding on the west coast, that two vessels came to Sgeir Bhoora, the small island rock near Poolewe at the head of Loch Ewe, and remained there a short time waiting for a messenger, who was expected to bring gold sent by the court of France for Prince Charlie's use. Whether afraid of being caught in a corner by an English man-of-war, or impatient of the delay in the arrival of the messenger, the two vessels sailed away a few days before the occurrence of the incident about to be related.