COMMISSIONER ALISTAIR D. MACKENZIE, P.ENG.,FCSCE

Alistair MacKenzie has been a long time member ofthe Ontario Committee and is often seen at at the

Clan Tent at many of the Ontario Highland Games.Along with Commissioner Ken Mackenzie, yet anoth-er engineer, he has been very active in the CanadianSociety for Civil Engineering. We now learn that hehas recently been elected as the President of that augustbody for 2005-2006.

We congratulate him and sincerely hope it does notget in the way of his much more important clanduties!!! (See photo page 15).

NEW MEMBERS

We welcome the following members who havejoined since the last Newsletter:

Mary Margaret (McKenzie) Armstrong,87 North Park Street,Brantford, ON N3R 4K2

Stephen Baker,35 Crawford Crescent, P.O. Box 129,Campbellville, ON L0P 1B0

Alex M. Kyle,2064 Glade Road, Thurm’s, Castlegar, BC V1W 3K6

Alistair Stuart MacKenzie,P.O. Box 206, Lambeth Stn,London, ON N6P 1P9

Clark Kenneth MacKenzie,18 Stanley Street,Kingston, ON K7K 1X9

Douglas Norman McKenzie,314 Morrison Ave.,Beaverton, ON L0K 1A0

Gary Arnold Mackenzie,1712 Fieldstone Crescent,Orleans, ON K1C 1R7

Clan MacKenzie Societyin the Americas

Cabar FeidhThe Canadian Chapter Magazine

September, 2005 ISSN 1207-7232

Cabar Feidh Newsletter: Members who wish to write to the Society with contributions to the Newsletter please send submissions to The Editor,Clan MacKenzie Society, 580 Rebecca St., Oakville, ON L6K 3N9. or e-mail to alan@mkz.comClan Web Pages: www.clanmackenzie.com & www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie

In This Issue:Roddy Hosts a Dinner in the Netherlands . . . . . . . .2Seaforth’s New Commanding Officer . . . . . . . . . . .2Letters from Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Highland Games Reports . . . . . . . . . . 4, 6-8, 13 &14Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5DNA Project Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Genealogy - Canadian Census 1911 . . . . . . . . . . . 10Mackenzies at the Battle of Trafalgar . . . . . . . . . . 11The Brahan Seer - some reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Funeral of “Smokey” Smith, V.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Clan Mackenzie Gathering in Strathpeffer plus photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-20

James Malcolm MacKenzie,9 Hillcrest Avenue,Kentville, NS B4N 1X1(James is our new commissioner for Nova Scotia)

Norman Walter McKenzie,35 Bishop Tonnos Way,Hamilton, ON L9B 2L7

R. Scott McKenzie,911 York Street,New Westminster, BC V3L 4S5

Maureen Smith,1 Lonsdale Drive,London, ON N6G 1T4

Mary Frances (MacKenzie)Wilton,

47 Winship Close,London, ON N6C 5M8

RODDY MACKENZIE HOSTS ADINNER

Roddy sent us this e-mail which follows upfrom a part of a report which we publishedin the previous issue of Cabar Feidh. TheMacKenzies are proud of their historicalassociation with the Seaforth Highlandersand consequently we think this report willbe of interest to members.

Ithought you might appreciatesome background regarding the

May 6, 2005 dinner Eric de Ridderand I hosted for the Seaforth offi-cers at Hotel De Wereld (Hotel ofthe World) in Wageningen.

Eric and I wanted to do some-thing really significant to demon-strate our appreciation for allSeaforth Commanding Officer Col.McGregor did to include us in thismemorable Seaforth pilgrimage toThe Netherlands, for how we weretreated by the Seaforths and theDutch while in Holland, and forwhat the Seaforth officers on thistrip did for Canada through their

participation in the Dutch WWII60th Anniversary events. Of allthings Eric and I could possiblyhave done, it seemed to us thatnothing was more appropriate thanhosting this dinner exactly 60 yearsand one day later in the very room,and dining on the actual table, usedfor Germany's Surrender to Canadaof The Netherlands.

Present at the Surrender wereCanadian Generals Charles Foulkesand George Kitching accompaniedby HRH Dutch Prince Bernhard.At that May 5, 1945 meeting theydictated the Terms of Surrender byGermany of Holland to Canada.German General JohannesBlaskowitz signed the Surrender onbehalf of the Third Reich. HRHPrince Bernhard was at that timeSupreme Commander of the RoyalDutch Armed Forces. The Princewas son-in-law of wartime QueenWilhelmina, husband of QueenJuliana and father of QueenBeatrix.

Fortunately, Hotel De Wereldagreed with our assessment of theimportance of this historic event,and so kindly served a magnificentdinner in the room and on the verytable the Terms of Surrender docu-ment was signed. In keeping withthe formality and importance of theevent, we concluded the dinnerwith a round of excellent port withwhich we stood and had the toastswhich form part of SeaforthRegimental dinners.

A couple of additional points ofnote. First, the Dutch have nowdesignated Hotel De Wereld aNational Heritage Monument.HRH Prince Bernhard personallyopened the reconstructed conserva-tory of the hotel nine years ago onMay 5, 1996. Second, for 59 years

Prince Bernhard has personallytaken the salute at the May 5th Dayof Liberation March Past atWageningen. However, he died lastDecember. So for the 60th MarchPast his grandson HRH DutchCrown Prince Willem-Alexandertook the salute. That morning in aspeech to the Dutch nation, theCrown Prince announced that thisMay 5th Day of Liberation ofHolland by Canada will be a per-manent national holiday in TheNetherlands and the March Pastwill continue each year atWageningen.

So, all in all, Eric and I managedto host for the Seaforths a remark-able dinner at an extraordinarylocation of huge significance toboth Canada and The Netherlands.

Best regards, Roddy

SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS NEWCOMMANDING OFFICER

LT-COL. ROB ROY EVERETTMACKENZIE, CD

How appropriate that the latestcommanding officer for the

Seaforth Highlanders of Canadashould be a Mackenzie!

Colonel Mackenzie was born inRegina, Saskachewan in 1963 andhe spent his early childhood inRegina, Ottawa and Victoria. In1976 his family moved toVancouver. In June 1985 he joinedThe Seaforth Highlanders ofCanada as a Private.

In 1986, after attending theReserve Entry Scheme Officer(RESO) training plan, ColonelMacKenzie was commissioned asan infantry Second-Lieutenant. In1987 he attended RESO Phase IIIand won the Canadian InfantryAssociation Sword as the TopCandidate. He continued his service

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with The Seaforth Highlanders ofCanada as a rifle platoon comman-der, a rifle company operations offi-cer and a company second-in-com-mand.

In May 1989, after completing aBachelor of Science degree inGeology from the University ofBritish Columbia, ColonelMacKenzie transferred to theRegular Force as a Direct EntryOfficer. In August 1989, he com-pleted Phase IV infantry officertraining and was posted to theSecond Battalion PrincessPatricia’s Canadian Light Infantryin Winnipeg, Manitoba. He servedhis first regimental tour as a rifleplatoon commander. He completedthe basic parachutist course andserved with the battalion on UnitedNations peacekeeping operations inCyprus. In 1991, he was promotedto Captain and posted overseas. Heserved as a United Nations MilitaryObserver on two missions inCentral America, first in Guatemalaand then in El Salvador.

On his return to Canada in 1992,he was posted to the Queen’s OwnCameron Highlanders of Canada asthe Regular Support Staff Officerand Adjutant. During this tour ofduty he served as an instructor atthe Princess Patricia’s CanadianLight Infantry Battle School inWainwright, Alberta and The RoyalCanadian School of Infantry inGagetown, New Brunswick. Healso completed career courses andgraduated United States ArmyRanger School. In 1994, ColonelMacKenzie returned to regimentalduty with the First BattalionPrincess Patricia’s Canadian LightInfantry in Calgary, Alberta. Heheld several positions in the battal-ion including anti-armour platoon

commander and battalion opera-tions captain. In 1997, ColonelMacKenzie was posted to TheCanadian Parachute Centre inTrenton, Ontario. He was qualifiedas a military free-fall parachutistand as a course officer he conduct-ed all static-line and free-fall basic,jump-master and parachute instruc-tor courses run by the CanadianArmy. In 1999, he finished his tourat The Canadian Parachute Centreas Adjutant and he was posted to 39Canadian Brigade GroupHeadquarters in Vancouver, as theG3 Training.

In May 2000, ColonelMackenzie transferred back to thePrimary Reserve and returned tothe Seaforth Highlanders of Canadaas a rifle company commander. In2001, he completed the dismountedcompany commander’s course andwas promoted to Major. In 2002, hewas appointed as the DeputyCommanding Officer. In 2003, hecompleted the Militia Commandand Staff Course at the CanadianLand Force Command and StaffCollege in Kingston, Ontario and in2004 he completed the JointReserve Command and StaffCourse at the Canadian ForcesCollege in Toronto.

The Change of Command cere-mony appointing ColonelMackenzie as the newCommanding Officer of theSeaforths took place on May 28ththis year. At long last a MacKenziecommands this regiment oncemore!

MEMBERS’ LETTERSI spotted this message posted on theMackenzie Clan chat line on theinternet. It will be of interest to themany members whose ancestorswere from Lewis.

My ancestors hail from Lewisand some did emigrate. A bettersource of information is DonaldMackenzie at the Ness HeritageCentre. He has amassed an enor-mous data base of Mackenzies andall their inter-relationships.He maybe able to help Good luck

Here is the website for the NessHistorical Society (ComunnEachdraidh Nis) & Ness HeritageCentre.

http://www.c-e-n.org/Betty (Mackenzie) Jordan

The following email from“ScotlandsPeople” came in recent-ly. This is a Government websiteand contains a great deal of helpfor genealogists:

We have previously written toyou to let you know of our plans toupdate the ScotlandsPeople websitewith some exciting changes andadditions. We are delighted toinform you the new sitehttp://www.scotlandspeople.gov.ukis now up and running.

In addition to the existing index-es and images, ScotlandsPeoplenow provides access to historicalwills and testaments from 1513 -1901, creating a unified search sys-tem for all these sources.

A number of people commentedon my mention of taking up actingagain in the last issue of CabarFeidh. I am aware that there arequite a few members who have pro-fessional actors in their family(amateur in my case). One I did notknow about came to light in thisemail from Douglas MacKenzie inNewcastle, Ontario (formerly livingin Oshawa)

Our Adele is in her 2nd seasonat Stratford, (last year Guys &

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Dolls/Anything Goes, this yearHello Dolly/The Tempest) and lov-ing it - still mostly dance, her firstlove, quite a lot of singing in cho-rus, and some acting.http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/plays/company.cfm (Adele MacKenzie’sphoto is included on this website).

My son, Scot, ‘acts’ like a racecar driver in the spring, summerand fall, with some 25 dates bookedthis season, as he instructs the fund-ed participants of three differentracing schools to pursue their motorsport dreams from recreational toprofessional. He is still searchingfor adequate funding for his ownaspirations. We continue to be non-plussed by seeing those whom hehas taught (not always the mostgifted) or raced and won against,making their way through one rac-ing series or another... he is nowentering his second year in a busi-ness degree programme at TheUniversity of Ontario Institute ofTechnology, planning to major infinance, and hopes to parlay that toa career (Bay Street - one of hisrepeat track clients is in an invest-ment house there) which could leadhim back to his own dreams - it cer-tainly isn't due to lack of skill,desire, or courage that he has not‘made it’ already.

On another front, I fully intendto participate in the MacKenzieDNA project when an opportunitypresents itself.

I have heard from a couple ofyoung folks in Pictou and NewGlasgow who are employed bysome research organisations inNova Scotia, and have discoveredthat there was likely a purposefulname spelling change in my familyfrom McKenzie to MacKenzie,most probably by my grandfatherAndrew MacKenzie, about the time

of his father George McKenzie'suntimely passing. GeorgeMcKenzie married IsabellaMcDonald first, and later marriedCatherine Marshall, who hadBarbara and Andrew, the latterbeing my GGF. It forced my grand-father into the AlbionMines/Stellarton (founded as CoalMine Station by Hector passengers)coal mines at the age of 12 in thelate 1800s. It would seem the rest ofthe family was of no assistancewhatever, leaving them to bare sub-sistence survival, and it would seemhe chose to distance himself fromthem.

I recently worked some weekendovertime at the GM Oshawa Truckplant with a Ron Compton ofScotland whose father or GF died inthe mines over there, and his momor GM was given five pounds andtold to get out of the company-owned house forthwith. Delightful.

A. Douglas MacKenzie, Newcastle.

[There are numerous instances ofthe Mackenzie name being changedwith McKenzie, or vice versa,between generations. I believe thatthis means very little. Mc is anabbreviation of Mac and spellingdid not attract the quality of detailthat it does today.]

GEORGETOWN HIGHLAND GAMES

Georgetown kicked off theHighland Games Season as

usual. Alan McKenzie was notavailable - he was treading theboards in a play with theMississauga Players. SoCommissioner Alistair MacKenzietook the clan van and with assis-tance from Commissioner KenMackenzie and other help fromJoyce Mackenzie Hirasawa and her

husband they had a good day andby all accounts it was awfully hot!

HAMILTON HIGHLAND GAMESJUNE 25, 2005

Alan was once more not avail-able for this Games. His

excuse this time was that he was inNova Scotia Attending his son Ian’swedding to Soonya Quon. So onceagain Ken and Alastair took up thereigns with help from ShawnMacKenzie.

The new clan van was becominga vital acquisition as different mem-bers were taking on the differentGames.

Once again the team had a suc-cessful day and were particularlysmug that the Clan MacKenzieSociety walked off with the bestClan Tent Award yet again - $100 incrisp $50 bills! There were eightclans in attendance this year. TheMacKenzie Clan is the only clanever to have won this award - Ithink we have won it six times now!

ZORRA HIGHLAND GAMES, EMBROJULY 1, 2005

Embro always hold theirHighland Games on Canada

Day which fell on a Friday thisyear. That complicated matters a lit-tle as we also wanted to attend theKincardine Scottish Festival thenext day.

Alan and Ken manned the tent atEmbro. These games are noted forits Tug-of-War competitions whichlast through the day in front of anoisy and enthusiastic crowd. Inotice there are now ladies’Tug-of-War teams these days and some ofthese competitors looked quitecapable of pulling a double-deckerbus if called upon to do so!

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continued on page 6

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BOOK REVIEW

In 1940 when it appeared that the BritishArmy was about to be defeated in

France, a massive effort was made to getthe bulk of the troops back to England byevacuating them in countless ships andsmall boats from Dunkirk. The success ingetting back 300,000 troops to Britain wasdue in no small part to the defiant rear-guard action of the 51st Highland Divisionwhich was sacrificed to protect theDunkirk beaches from the massiveGerman forces surrounding the area.

Among the regiments was the SeaforthHighlanders who along with the remains ofthe Highland Division were taken prisoner.The defensive role played by the HighlandDivision against such overwhelming oddswon the admiration of their enemy leaderRommel as well as Allies such as deGaulle who fought alongside them.Members may know that among the pris-oners of the Seaforth Highlanders takenwas our late Clan Chief, the Earl ofCromartie who was a major in theSeaforths. While he was in captivity for therest of the war he wrote most of his book“A Highland History”, which is a usefulreference source for the Mackenzie Clan.

The book we are looking at opposite isa fascinating look at the stories of someHighlanders who were taken prisoner andthe exploits they had in escapes and recap-tures with some successes at getting backto Britain.

Two of the main contributors, AngusCampbell from Lewis and Donald JohnMacDonald South Uist, were traditionalGaelic bards and this volume contains theirstories translated from the original Gaelic.

Here is a quote from the Introduction:“Three men from the Argylls were also

decorated after escaping from the march.After over a month of adventures, Cpl JohnMacDonald, L/Cpl James ‘Ginger’Wilsonand Willie Kemp reached the Spanish fron-tier and eventually returned to Scotland byship from Gibraltar. At one point they werearrested and famously managed to baffleall their interpreters their captors couldthrow at them by speaking Gaelic. Whenasked to point out their homeland on themap, Kemp pointed vaguely towardsRussia! [who were theoretical allies ofGermany at that time.]

The book is a thoroughly good readand is well illustrated with maps and pho-tographs.

The cover photograph showsLieutenant-General Erwin Rommel, withhis prisoners, General Victor Fortune andLt Col. H. Swinburn. [copyright ImperialWar Museum, London.]

The vivid accounts in this book bringalive the chaos and horror of war and grimdeprivation of the camps and forcedmarches which so many endured. Yet thesepersonal stories resound with the spirit,humour and sense of comradeship whichenabled men to fight on in desperate

situations and refuse to be cowed by theircaptors.

The book was first published in GreatBritain in 2004 by Birlinn Limited,Edinburgh.

I recommend having a look at theBirlinn website at www.birlinn.co.uk for awide selection of Scottish books, includingthose terrific books by Alexander McCallSmith (I read all of his books!). Get themfrom the library!

Once more it was extraordinari-ly hot but there was a powerfulwind which was quite a nuisanceand in fact when we were taking thetent down at the end of the day itblew the tent over onto its roof.That is the second time that hashappened at Embro. No damagewas done though a few spectatorsscattered rather quickly!

The day was quiet as far as saleswere concerned but as usual withKen present there were some inter-esting conversations with the visi-tors to the tent. One such was ourmember Dave Mackenzie, who weknew from past visits to be a formerpolice chief. Now he has pro-gressed further and is now theConservative Party Member ofParliament for Oxford. Dave livesin Woodstock, Ontario.

In the process of packing I bentover to pick up some tent poles andI distinct sound of ripping in theseat of my pants occurred. I was leftwith an embarrassingly large holein the seat of my trousers

Once we were packed Kendeparted as he had other dutieswaiting for him at home and Alantook the clan van and tried to findhis way to Kincardine. I got lost asa result driving through ruralOntario but I was in no particularhurry as I had indicated to the B&Bin Kincardine that I was not likelyto get there before 8 p.m. In theprocess I found myself drivingthrough the little towns of Seaforthand of Kintail and the MackenzieCamp Grounds. Clear evidence thatthis region of Western Ontario hadonce been settled by large numbersof Mackenzie settlers.

Once I had arrived at my B&Bin Kincardine I tried without suc-cess to mend my pants. Since I washungry for a meal and had to go

into town I decided to change backinto my kilt and the rest of theHighland gear and off I went to aTim Hortons. On leaving after satis-fying my hunger and thirst a carpassed me and I heard a wolf whis-tle beside me. The lady driving whomust have been in her forties andshould have been better brought upsaid to me through the open win-dow “Sexy!” This was a new expe-rience for me! I am now 69 and itshows that there’s life in the old dogyet!

KINCARDINE SCOTTISH FESTIVALJULY 2, 2005

Ilike Kincardine. The people arefriendly and the organizers were

keen that we should feel properlylooked after. We were in the samelocation as last year, which is offthe street and not in the groundswhere the band competitions takeplace. We hated this last year butwe soon learned that this was not atall a bad spot. All the bands

marched past the clan tents andcrowds came to watch so we didfind visitors made there way towhere we were located.

Sales were very respectable andwe picked up another candidate forthe DNA Project. We now have 75Mac/Mckenzies taking part in thisproject and the more we get themore useful the results will be.

The weather at Kincardine wasspectacular and although I thought Iwould not be able to take part in theClan Parade through town becauseI was on my own, Pat and EvertJansen turned up and they were ableto help out and, indeed, Evert and Iparaded the Clan Banner throughthe streets of Kincardine in front oflarge crowds. By the way, therewere vast numbers of MacArthurs,McGregors and Buchanans follow-ing their own clan banner and I dowonder why large clans such asMacDonald and Campbell seldomappear and the Mackenzies get so

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This photo gives some idea of the crowds that congregated in front of our clan tent at Kincardine,when the various pipe bands marched past during the day. These were the massed bands in fact -

only five of them, the other 20 were competition bands who were busy practicing.

few to take part in these parades.Strangely, though, neither theBuchanans nor the McGregors hada clan tent, which I though decided-ly odd!

A final comment on theKincardine event - the quality of thecompeting bands was very high andthere were many grade one bandstaking part. In all there were 25bands at Kincardine and amongthese I noted the 78th FraserHighlanders, the Peel RegionalPolice and the TorontoMetropolitan Police Pipe Bands -all of them world class. The Fraserswon 1st place and our member, ErinMacKenzie Grant, was playing forthe Toronto Metropolitan PolicePipe Band, who were just edgedinto second place.

CHATHAM SERTOMA HIGHLANDGAMES

JULY 9, 2005

Alistair MacKenzie and AlanMcKenzie made the long drive

to Chatham, Ontario. We had a veryrelaxing day in bright warm sun-shine. It was necessary to drink alot because of the warmth. A flaskof tea soon went and vast quantitiesof water followed!

It was a great pleasure to see ourgood friend Alastair McIntyre, whonow lives in Chatham following hisemigration from Scotland. Alastair,you may remember, runs the largestScottish website in the world with20,000 pages and over one millionvisitors a month. He also hosts ourCanadian Clan MacKenzie websiteand the records of our DNA projectcan also be found on this vast web-site. As usual Alastair McIntyre wasvery busy with his camera and ifyou have never been to a HighlandGames then drink in the atmos-phere with hundreds of his pho-

tographs and even some short filmstaken at Chatham. Take a wee look,as Alastair would say, at:http://www.electricscotland.com/gatherings/sertoma/index.htm .

All in all, a very pleasant daywith good sales. As is usual with aplace so close to the US border, wehad a large number of Americanvisitors to the tent.

ORILLIA SCOTTISH FESTIVALJULY 17, 2005

We like Orillia. The ScottishFestival takes place in a pub-

lic park on Lake Couchiching. Theclan tent was manned by three com-missioners, Norman, Rad and Alan.Norman was just back from his roleas Tattoo Drum Major at the NovaScotia International Tattoo and hedeclared it “the best ever”.

The weather was warm again butknowing Orillia from past experi-ence there is always the danger ofthunderstorms at this time of year.Well that did not happen this year .But the fine weather finally sug-gested rain was now about to hap-pen at 3.30 p.m. so that the few

clans present hastily pulled downtheir tents and we followed suit.

Orillia is particularly noted forits huge parade through the townwith very many pipe bands.Cameras were at the ready as thebands marched past our tent fol-lowed by a huge throng of people.There is no admittance fee to thefestival and the crowds like that!

So another pleasant casual day.We did some respectable sales andpicked up one new member withthe very strong possibility of anoth-er one joining later when he settlesinto a new home.

We did hear that the HighlandGames at Cambridge, Ontario waswashed out with heavy rain furthersouth and, indeed, Toronto was hitwith thunderstorms and heavy rainlater in the day.

GLENGARRY HIGHLAND GAMES,MAXVILLE, ONTARIO

JULY 30, 2005

Ken Mackenzie and AlanMcKenzie made the long jour-

ney to Eastern Ontario for thesegiant games. We had a special guest

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Orillia Scottish Festival - Commissioners Norman MacKenzie, Alan McKenzie and RadMacKenzie

with us this year. He is AlastairMcIntyre, of electric scotland, whohosts our Clan Mackenzie Canadawebsite: www.electricscotland.com .

Alastair was kept very busy ashe toured the extensive grounds andtook hundreds of photos and spoketo numerous people. He was givena special pass to go onto the mainfield to take photos. His websitewill show many of these pictures.

Special visitors to our tentincluded the Minister ofCitizenship and Immigration forOntario, Hon. Mike Colle, who hasa Mackenzie pedigree and waspleased to buy some of our mer-chandise. Another popular visitorwas Hon. Flora McDonald, who is aregular attendee at these gamesfrom Ottawa.

The weather was gorgeous andthe crowds were huge.Unfortunately the big plan to let usout of the barn and onto the fieldswas abandoned because the orga-nizers said there was not enoughroom. So we were back in the barnand this is a poor location forattracting some of the crowds whoprefer to stay and watch the manyevents and pipe bands from thegrandstand. Disappointing, anddespite their huge size they have along way to go to compete for clanloyalty compared to Fergus with itssplendid clan village.

We did have a small stage set upopposite our tent and a man fromScotland was giving talks ongenealogy and at times there weregood crowds to hear what he had tosay.

The average sort of attendance atour tent makes it very hard to justi-fy the expense of the long drive (atthese gas prices!) and hotel. Wetend to view it as a public relationsexercise. We picked up just one

new member, which is another dis-appointment.

We counted 26 clans present andwe noticed six clan spots not takenup, which might have been a reac-tion to the decision to locate us inthe barns again. Fergus had 52clans last year! Point made!

THE MACKENZIE DNA PROJECTBY ALAN MCKENZIE

As I write we have now 75Mackenzies of various

spellings signed up for the DNASingle Surname Project. (Sinceincreased to 86). I fully expect tosee numbers run into the hundredsas the idea gradually infiltrates theimagination of male Mackenziesaround the world.

I recently had an email fromFamily Tree DNA inviting me tocontribute my own DNA results toThe Genographic Project. Thishuge project seeks to trace themovement of populations aroundthe world since the beginning of the

human race starting with our earli-est ancestors in Africa 200,000years ago. I was more than happy todo this and I received a certificatefrom the Genographic Project offthe internet confirming my ancestrybeing part of the Haplogroup R1bwith the added note of my ancestorknown as M343. Quite a coinci-dence he should have the initial M!

I think I might share this ances-try with you and it ought to be ofinterest as it is likely that nearly allour members have exactly the samedistant ancestors. The map on thispage helps with this complex “fam-ily tree”.

Although I refer to M343 as if hewas a single person, it is in fact agenetic marker and is described as“the final destination of a geneticjourney that began some 60,000years ago with an ancient geneticchromosome marker called M168.

“This widely dispersed M168marker can be traced to a singleindividual - ‘Eurasian Adam’. ThisAfrican man, who lived some

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The genealogical route of most Mackenzies

31,000 to 79,000 years ago, is thecommon ancestor of every non-African person living today. Hisdescendants migrated out of Africaand became the only lineage to sur-vive away from humanity’s homecontinent.

“Population growth during theUpper Paleolithic era may havespurred the M168 lineage to seeknew hunting grounds for the plainsanimals crucial to their survival.

“Improved tools and rudimenta-ry art appeared during the sameepoch, suggesting significant men-tal and behavioural changes. Theseshifts may have been spurred by agenetic mutation that gave“Eurasion Adam’s” descendants acognitive advantage over other con-temporary, but now extinct, humanlineages.

“Some 90 to 95 percent of allnon-Africans are descendants of thesecond great human migration outof Africa, which is defined by themarker M89.

“M89 first appeared 45,000years ago in Northern Africa or theMiddle East. It arose on the originallineage of “Eurasion Adam”(M168), and defines a large inlandmigration of hunters who followedexpanding grasslands and plentifulgame to the Middle East.

“Many people of this lineageremained in the Middle East, butothers continued their movementand followed the grasslandsthrough Iran to the vast steppes ofCentral Asia. Herds of buffalo,antelope, woolly mammoths andother game probably enticed themto explore new grasslands.

“With much of Earth’s waterfrozen in massive ice sheets, theera’s vast steppes stretched fromEastern France to Korea. The grass-land hunters of the M89 lineagetravelled both east and west along

this steppe “superhighway” andeventually peopled much of thecontinent.

“A group of M89 descendantsmoved north from the Middle Eastto Anatolia and the Balkans, tradingfamiliar grasslands for forests andhigh country. Though there num-bers were likely small, genetictraces of their journey are stillfound today.

“Some 40,000 years ago a manin Iran or southern Central Asia wasborn with a unique genetic markerknown as M9, which marked a newlineage diverging from the M89group. His descendants spent thenext 30,000 years populating muchof the planet.

“Most residents of the NorthernHemisphere trace their roots to thisunique individual and carry hisdefining marker. Nearly all NorthAmericans and East Asians havethe M9 marker, as do mostEuropeans and many Indians. Thehaplogroup defined by M9, K, isknown as the Eurasian Clan.

“This large lineage dispersedgradually. Seasoned hunters fol-lowed the herds ever eastward,along a vast belt of Eurasian steppe,until the massive mountain rangesof south Central Asia blocked theirpath.

“The Hindu Kush, Tian Shan,and Himalaya, even more formida-ble during the era’s ice age, dividedeastward migrations through the“Pamir Knot” region would subse-quently become defined by addi-tional genetic markers.

“The marker M45 first appearedabout 35,000 to 40,000 years ago ina man who became the commonancestor of most Europeans andnearly all native Americans. Thisunique individual was part of the

M9 lineage, which was moving tothe north of the mountainous HinduKush and onto the game-richsteppes of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,and southern Siberia.

“The M45 lineage survived onthese northern steppes even in thefrigid Ice Age climate. While biggame was plentiful, these resource-ful hunters had to adapt their behav-iour to an increasingly hostile envi-ronment. They erected animal skinshelters and sewed weathertightclothing. They also refined the flintheads on their weapons to compen-sate for the scarcity of obsidian andother materials.

“The intelligence that allowedthis lineage to adapt and thrive inharsh conditions was critical tohuman survival in a region whereno other hominids are known tohave survived.

“Members of haplogroup R [Ed:that is most of us] are descendantsof Europe’s first large-scale humansettlers. The lineage is defined by Ychromosome marker M173, whichshows a westward journey of M45-carrying Central Asian steppehunters.

“The descendants of M173arrived in Europe around 35,000years ago and immediately began tomake their own dramatic markupon the continent. Famous cavepaintings, like those of Lascaux andChauvet, signal the sudden arrivalof humans with artistic skill. Thereare no artistic precedents or precur-sors to their appearance.

“Soon after this lineage’s arrivalin Europe, the era of theNeandertals came to a close.Genetic evidence proves that thesehominids were not human ancestorsbut an evolutionary dead end.Smarter, more resourceful humandescendants of M173 likely out-competed Neandertals for scarce

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Ice Age resources and thus heraldedtheir demise.

“The long journey of this lineagewas further shaped by the prepon-derance of ice at this time. Humanswere forced to southern refuges inSpain. Italy and the Balkans. Yearslater, as the ice retreated, theymoved north out of these isolatedrefuges and left an enduring, con-centrated trail of the M173 markerin their wake.

“Today, for example, the mark-er’s frequency remains very high innorthern France and the BritishIsles - where it was carried byM173 descendants who had weath-ered the Ice Age in Spain.

“Members of haplogroup R1b,defined by M343 are the directdescendants of Europe’s first mod-ern humans - known as the Cro-Magnon people.

“Cro-Magnons arrived inEurope some 35,000 years ago,during a time when Neandertalsstill lived in the region. M343-car-rying peoples made woven clothingand constructed huts to withstandthe frigid climes of the UpperPaleolithic era. They used relativelyadvanced tools of stone, bone andivory. Jewelry, carvings and intri-cate, colourful cave paintings bearwitness to the Cro-Magnons’ sur-prisingly advanced culture duringthe last glacial age.

“When the ice retreated geneti-cally homogenous groups recolo-nized the north, where they are stillfound in high frequencies. Some 70percent of men in southern Englandare R1b. In parts of Spain andIreland that number exceeds 90 per-cent.

“There are many sublineageswithin R1b that are yet to bedefined. The Genographic Projecthopes to bring future clarity to thedisparate parts of this distinctive

European lineage.”While the foregoing was intend-

ed for me personally, explaining myown genetic heritage, neverthelessit probably applies to mostMackenzies. Indeed, of the resultswhich have come in from ourMackenzie DNA Project to date 82percent have an “R1b” result. Acouple have an “R1a” reading andthere are a few “I” results whichsuggest a northern European genet-ic ancestry - possibly Viking. Thereare a very few who have no specif-ic haplogroup specified and there isone of Middle Eastern and possibly

Jewish origin.I find it most interesting that

within just 30,000 years most of usdescend from a single male ances-tor. Perhaps Scots should makepeace with the English at last! Weseem to be closely related and evenmore so with the Irish and theSpanish!

Up the Cro-Magnon Clan! Nowthink up a war cry for them!

GENEALOGY - CANADIAN CENSUS1911

The Canadian Bill S-18, whichallows public access to 20th-

century census records, is finally

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Here is Ann Ship with Commissioner Ian Stuart Mackenzie at the Victoria Games

about to become law. It is reportedthat the Library and Archives ofCanada has already scanned imagesof the 1911 National Census ofCanada and they should be avail-able online almost immediately.Canadian genealogists may be ableto spend the summer looking forancestors in these 1911 records.Read more at:http://globalgenealogy.com/global-gazette/gazce/gazce117.htm

See also: http://globalgenealo-gy.com/Census/

Congratulations to theGovernment of Canada for gettingthis right at last!

BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR

You may have seen that Britainis celebrating the 200th

anniversary of their huge victory atthe Battle of Trafalgar.

One tends to think of the Britishnavy at that time being manned byEnglish sailors. It therefore came asa big surprise to find that there are14 McKenzie sailors listed as hav-ing taken part in this famous battle.The list with the details of thesemen can be found at the followingweb site. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/trafalgarancestors/results.asp

Please let us know if any ofthese were your ancestors!

A person I knew well when Iworked for Barclays Bank ofCanada was Chris Collingwoodfrom Newfoundland, who was adirector of the bank. He was adirect descendant of AdmiralCollingwood, who took over com-mand of the British fleet on thedeath in the battle of Admiral LordNelson.

THE BRAHAN SEER

Ihave often been asked to putsomething in the magazines

about the Brahan Seer. The histori-an, Alexander Mackenzie, wrote awell known book about this strangeman, who was a Mackenzie, we aretold. However, although I have readabout him I have to admit that I getturned off hearing stories aboutcharacters living years ago whosupposedly had second sight andcould predict the future with uncan-ny accuracy. So I have stayed awayfrom the subject. However he hascropped up again. Rob Stewart, oursometime printer and publisher,drew my attention to a website runby a well-known member of theClan Mackenzie in Scotland. He isBrian Mackenzie-Hanson and hisweb page is at www.spiritualhu-manism.org

I will let Brian speak for himself.He has kindly allowed us to reprintthe Brahan Seer argument on hisweb page.

Brian Mackenzie-Hansen

Hello fellow SpiritualHumanists! My name is Brian

Mackenzie-Hanson and I am a newclergy member from East Yorkshirein Great Britain. In addition tobeing an Arianist I am also involvedwith the Clan Mackenzie Society inScotland (a registered charity). Irecently received a query from aPastor in Canada (Rev. D.MacKenzie) asking if anyone withauthority in the Clan had formallyrenounced the occultic activities ofthe Brahan Seer!

[Background: The Brahan Seer(Kenneth Odhar Mackenzie) lived inthe Scottish Highlands between circa1650 - 1677 and was a clairvoyantaccording to Clan Mackenzie legend( h t t p : / / w w w . c l a n -

mackenzie.org.uk\clan\seer.html). TheBrahan Seer was burned in oil atChanonry Point on the Black Isle inScotland about 1677 on a charge ofwitchcraft; this however was at thedemands of Lady Mackenzie becausehe had given her the answer to a ques-tion that she didn't want to hear! i.e.She basically asked why her husbandwas taking so long returning fromFrance; the answer was that he wasspending time with his mistress!Coinneach Odhar (Kenneth)Mackenzie apparently had the gift ofsecond sight for both present andfuture. The alarming thing is that hisprophecies have turned out to beextremely accurate, which also includ-ed a final prophecy of the tragicdemise of the clan Chief's male bloodline, made just before the Seer's exe-cution! The Chief's four sons died with-out issue (decessit sine prole). A largerock stands as a monument to theBrahan Seer at the point where he wasexecuted.

Quote from Rev. D. MacKenzie:“...Here’s my theological question:Has anyone with authority withinthe Clan Mackenzie ever formallyRENOUNCED the occultic activi-ties of the Brahan Seer? Nowheredoes any of your literature suggestthat the activities of this man weredone on behalf of (or to the gloryof) Jesus Christ - in fact, the use ofstones would imply quite the oppo-site. Now, I have little doubt as aChristian pastor of the veracity ofseveral of the stories, but prophecydone in the name of one’s self(whether accurate or inaccurate)does not honour God, and is right-fully called witchcraft. Demonicforces love to piggy-back off falseprophecy; it allows them the oppor-tunity to manipulate entire nations.That’s the ‘hook’.

“The problem with heathen sin-cerity is that it’s still heathen.Prophecy misdirected is still anabomination before the Lord, asScripture bears witness. Hence, has

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any God-fearing leader in the ClanMackenzie done anything aboutthis, that you’re aware?

“I would not see my broaderfamily sold out to the curse of notserving the Lord God ... I’venoticed that such gifts (and theirdemonic counterfeits) often crop upagain and again within familylines...”

My [Brian’s] response was asfollows:

Kenneth Odhar Mackenzie isNOT viewed as a witch (warlock)by the clan but as an innocent clair-voyant who was wrongly accusedand executed. As he was executedthere is debate as to whether he pre-dicted or manipulated the demise ofthe Earls of Seaforth in a final andpotent prophecy. I would tend tobelieve that this was a premonitionused in anger rather than a curse asbeing a clairvoyant wasn’t his fault,if anything it would have been acurse to him or perhaps a God givengift for him to use wisely to serveGod. During his life the BrahanSeer seems to have been encour-aged to share his premonitions andwas approached with questions; it’snot clear if there were any selfishreasons for his prophesies and thosearound him did seem to have madeuse of him and exploited his leg-end! He was still only human at theend of the day and the sins werelargely committed by those aroundhim!

I remember a priest giving ablessing several years ago whichpertained to the Brahan Seer atChanonry Point, however the leg-endary curse of the Mackenziespertained to the extinction of theline of succession of the then chiefsof the Clan, the Earls of Seaforth.This line did become extinct and isnow carried by a cousin branch, the

Earls of Cromartie. There is an ear-lier branch of the Clan which alsohas a claim to the chiefship of theclan as their decent is from the mainbranch and has an unbroken maleline of descent and according toScottish Clan traditions are therightful claimants to the chiefshipas the present chief’s descent hasseveral maternal links (in Clanterms a deer rather than a stag!).The Seer’s prophecy only seems tohave affected or pertained to theSeaforths that wronged him anddoesn’t affect other branches.

While occultic activities wouldperhaps be viewed as something torenounce if it had occurred, I amnot sure that there is anything toformally renounce! Being bornclairvoyant isn’t necessarily a sinand it doesn’t automatically followthat a clairvoyant would engage in“occultic activities” even if he orshe shared their experiences!Perhaps there is something to apol-ogise to the Brahan Seer for?

Bearing in mind that the ClanMackenzie reaches across theworld it encompasses many faithsand, no doubt, there will also be afew pagans among its ranks. TheClan Mackenzie maintains that it isnon-sectarian and non-denomina-tional. Therefore, formally repent-ing and renouncing the Clan’s con-nection with the Brahan Seer maycome across as absurd to some andeven offensive to others. Althoughthe Clan Mackenzie would nevercondone occult activities, theLegend of the Brahan Seer is heldout of interest and is a part of thehistory of our Clan.

Furthermore the gift of secondsight, premonition and telepathy(sending/willing) is reputed to fol-low many branches of the

Mackenzies. But there is also thepossibility that the legend of theBrahan Seer has been greatly andcleverly exaggerated through time,and Coinneach Odhar MacCainneach (Kenneth “the Dunn”Mackenzie) may have been con-victed entirely on suspicion. TheClan Mackenzie has had manybloody episodes in its past some-times being termed as the “BluidichMac Cainneach”, as well as itsheroic and romantic episodes; how-ever we understand that this is allpart of the history and legend of ourClan and in no way means that weare all going to make our neigh-bours shorter by their heads thenext time there is a feud!

Although the Brahan Seer hasnever formally been renounced bythe Clan Mackenzie since his exe-cution, it is interesting to speculatethat if the Earls of Seaforth hadrepented and begged God's forgive-ness (perhaps they did!) that mat-ters may not have unfolded as theydid. In convicting the Seer forwitchcraft it could be argued thatthey did renounce the Seer after-all!

Should the Clan Mackenzie for-mally renounce the Brahan Seer? Indoing so could it remove a possiblecurse from the clan Chief(Although there is no evidence ofthis today)? Is the act of prophecy,whether or not accurate or withgood intentions, witchcraft? Doesprophecy dishonour God?Assuming that these were prophe-cies and not just lucky predictions,was the Brahan Seer an innocentclairvoyant or was he evil? Couldthe Brahan Seer have brought acurse onto the Clan Chief's family?Is the Clan correct in maintainingthe monument at Chanonry Pointand should the Clan Chief go fur-ther and formally pardon theBrahan Seer?

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Regards, Brian. Arianist & Genealogist - www.mackenzie-

hanson.co.uk

[Ed: If you go into the website where we extractedthis piece you may notice that it starts a range of cor-respondence which gets quite excitable at times!

Perhaps I am wise to stay away from the subjectafter all!]

TWO FOR ONE WEEKEND - VICTORIA AND COURTNEYHIGHLAND GAMES

MAY 21 AND 22, 2005by Commissioner Ian Stuart Mackenzie

My family (mother Jill, wife Lynn and two sonsJames and Charles) and I fancied a weekend

away, so what better way to do it than to represent theMackenzie Clan at the Highland games in Courtneyand Victoria (21st and 22nd May).

We took the ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Islandearly on Friday and drove the scenic route to Courtney.The weather was cool and cloudy but we were hopingfor better weather as we explored the town.

We awoke on Saturday morning to bright sunshineand set off in anticipation of a busy and enjoyable day.We'd just purchased a tent to use on these occasions buthad only put it up once in our back yard to see if wecould do it. Funny how it seems more difficult whenthere are lots of people around watching you struggle.We eventually got it all together with the help of ourneighbours, the Campbells, sharing a few stories and afew laughs along the way.

Unfortunately, the day didn't turn out quite as we'dhoped. The wind got up and the rain came down. We'dfitted half walls on two sides of our tent and put up aback wall. We sat with our coffees watching the rainget blown into other tents, feeling very sorry for them.We soon found out why others hadn't put sides up. Thewind gusted through the half open sides and our tentacted like a great sail. Imagining what might happen,Lynn and the boys had gone off to buy more tent pegs,I was competing in the piping and poor mother was lefthanging on to the tent poles for all she was worth!There were very few visitors to the games and evenless to our clan tent. The dancing competitions had tobe abandoned due to the slippery, wet conditions. Wefelt very sorry for the organizers who'd obviously putin a lot of effort. Admitting defeat, we packed up the

tent and drove the two hours south to Victoria.The weather was much better the next day and we

impressed the Campbells by setting up our tent likepros. The sun was shining and there was only a slightbreeze, causing no problems. We had quite a fewMackenzies stop by and sign our visitors book. I fol-lowed up on each one by sending them a back issue ofthe clan magazine, inviting them to join our Society.We were delighted when Ann Ship from Ontario joinedus for a while, taking part in the parade at the openingceremony and helping at the clan tent when I wascompeting in the piping. Being a member of the 78thFraser Highlanders, I was doing double duty that dayand changed kilts to act as guard when the cannon wasfired at the opening of the Games. There were manyvisitors to the Games and my boys were tickled to seequite a few West Highland terriers, suitably dressed forthe occasion in tartan coats. The stalls seemed to bevery busy and the heavy events drew large crowds. Allin all, a good time was had by all. (See photo page10).

We didn’t realise that Victoria has a huge Mayparade on the holiday Monday and found out that 86marching bands from across Canada and the US weretaking part, along with many pipe bands. So next year,we’ll know what to expect of this busy weekend and bea little better prepared! We had a few weekends torecover before setting up at the BC Highland Games inCoquitlam but that’s another story ……….

SMOKEY SMITH V.C.

BY RODDY MACKENZIE, VANCOUVER

This morning [August 13th], I cut short myCanadian prairie vacation and drove back from

Calgary to Vancouver today to pay my respects to themost famous of the Seaforth Highlanders, VictoriaCross recipient Smokey Smith. Smokey's remains hadbeen lying in state in Ottawa accompanied by twodozen Seaforths from Vancouver. However, hisremains and his Seaforth Honour Guard returned hometo lie in state today at the Seaforth Armoury here inVancouver. When I arrived this evening, mournerswere still waiting in line to sign Smokey's Book ofRemembrance and to view his coffin covered byCanada's flag, and guarded by Seaforths. The SeaforthHonour Guard of four soldiers and an officer changeswith military precision each 20 minutes all day long.

On display for those in line to view were one eachof every class of medal Canadians have earned, com-

Page 13

mencing with the Victoria Cross. In addition, therewas a picture and biography for each Canadian whohas received the Victoria Cross since Queen Victoriacreated it in 1856. Pictures were also on display of anexuberant Smokey being greeted by a very youngQueen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and a very recentone of Smokey being warmly welcomed by the Princeof Wales.

An interesting point about funeral bouquets. At oneend of the Armoury was a long line of official funeralbouquets. However, at Smokey's coffin there wereonly two bouquets. One was from the Government ofCanada. The other was from HRH Princess Margriet,the younger sister of Dutch Queen Beatrix. PrincessMargriet was born in Canada during the Dutch RoyalFamily's exile here in WWII. She most recently sawSmokey when we were all in The Netherlands in Mayfor WWII's 60th Anniversary. It was at the GovernorGeneral of Canada's reception in Holland on the DutchDay of Remembrance in May 2005 that my friend Ericde Ridder and I were seated for a few minutes withSmokey.

I had a pleasant surprise at the Seaforth Armourythis evening. A lawyer I was practicing law with, JohnWeston, was there. I asked him why. He told me he's

Smokey's nephew. John was there with his threeyoung children so that they could see their Great-Unclebeing honoured by Canada. As an aside, John willlikely become West Vancouver's Member ofParliament in the next federal election.

August 14th:Here in Vancouver we have now concluded

Seaforth Highlander and Victoria Cross recipientSmokey Smith's full military funeral. It was Canada'sbiggest military funeral in the half a century sinceWWI flying ace and Victoria Cross recipient BillyBishop died in 1956.

Thousands of Canadians lined Burrard Street fromthe Seaforth Armoury to St. Andrew's-Wesley UnitedChurch to respectfully watch the passage of Smokey'sflag-draped coffin accompanied by the Seaforth pipesand drums, the Seaforth Honour Guard and a strongrepresentation of Canada's Armed Forces and Canada'sveterans. This included 400 regular force soldiers whocame from Edmonton, Canada's army base closest toVancouver. While Smokey's coffin was crossing theBurrard Bridge, CF-18 fighter jets of Canada's AirForce roared overhead in the Missing Man Manoeuvreto honour Smokey as a fallen comrade.

Official Announcement: It is with great sorrow that I mustannounce the death of Sgt (retd) Ernest Alvia “Smokey” Smith,Canada’s last surviving Canadian Victoria Cross recipient.Smokey died August 3, 2005 in Vancouver B.C.

Smokey was born in New Westminster, B.C. on May 3, 1914.During the Second World War Mr Smith enlisted in the SeaforthHighlanders of Canada and served with that unit throughout itsinvolvement in the Italian and Northwest European campaigns. Itwas in 1944 at the battle of Savio River, during the Italian cam-paign that he clearly distinguished himself from other soldiers. Atthe battle his actions of valour were recognized through him beingawarded the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth’s highest awardfor valour. His war service ended with his de-activation from thepermanent force on April 13, 1945.

FERGUS HIGHLAND GAMES & SCOTTISH FESTIVALBY COMMISSIONER ALISTAIR D. MACKENZIE

We had quite a successful day at Fergus. Theweather was very good, not too much sun. We

were very busy, and had over $700 of sales - and ranout of the small Tee Shirts. We got one new member,but several others were interested and said that theywould follow up (One fellow who promised to contactus is from Oakville and his name is Alistair D.Mackenzie, so if he does follow up it should causesome confusion!!!).

Page 14

Apart from myself, the tent was manned by Ken andShawn Mackenzie and Jack Hirasawa. It was Ken, Jackand I, together with Jack’s two children and a couple oftheir friends who were in the parade. Shawn did a lotof the sales whilst the rest of us were in the parade.

I assumed that we would be working on our usualarrangements at Fergus whereby we pick our ownspace and put up our own tent and as none of the tentsthat the organizers had erected for the Clans had ourname on it, I did just that and commandeered the endspot (where we were last year).

We donated $20 for John Campbell’s retirement gift

page 15

Quebec Commissioner Jimmy McKenzie at the Montreal HighlandGames with two of his grandchildren

Commissioner Jimmy with granddaughter Alessia.

A bandsman accepts the Annual McKenzie Trophy awarded for bestband in its grade at the Montreal Games.

Montreal - And here is the winning band with their McKenzie Trophy!

Commissioner Alistair D. MacKenzie at Fergus

from all the Clans.We even had a visit from Graeme Mackenzie (Clan

Genealogist - just back from Strathpeffer) albeit in hisMacmillan attire!!

None of us had a camera but one of my engineercolleagues dropped by and took the photo (page 15sorry it’s only me, I think the others were busy sellingat the time!!)

CLAN MACKENZIE GATHERING, STRATHPEFFERAUGUST 6 - 14, 2005

The third Gathering of the Clan in Strathpeffer wasa great success yet again. There were 300 partici-

pants this year which is down on 2000 but well abovethe number in 1995.

There were groups from Canada, Australia, NewZealand and the United States as well as some fromSouth America and even a fine delegation from Francewho were all smartly turned out in Mackenzie kilts.

Aside from the usual tours of the castle and music

page 16

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If you cannot visit us because of the distance involved and you can still go on lineand order a kilt from us. There is a measuring form on our website. The web

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“Margaret Struth, who made HRH Prince Charles’ kilt recently, made my kilt for theMackenzie Gathering in Scotland in 1995. It is still as good as new despite constant

wear. Alan McKenzie ”

This is John Campbell receiving a gift from all the Clans at Fergus forall his good work organizing the Clan Village for many years. John has

now retired and he will be missed.

event in the state rooms in the castle, a dinner and aball, there was a wide selection of coach tours some ofwhich were fully booked. Most popular were the tripsto Eilean Donan Castle as well as Loch Ness to seeNessy! I visited Fort George to see the upgradedHighlanders Regiment Museum with lots of exhibits ofthe Seaforths and portraits of Mackenzies. Trips toGairloch and Applecross were also very popular andthe coach trip across the Cattle Pass over Applecrosswas as good as any excitement one would get on ridesat the CNE. We did wonder at times if the coach wastoo big to get around those frightfully narrow roads onthe edge of plunging drops. It was even more exciting

when we met cars coming in the opposite direction.We made our presentation to Cabarfeidh of our

clan’s gift of £5,000. He was delighted. He told us thaturgent repairs were needed to one of the chimneyblocks and the cost was £10,000. So Canada’s donationwas very timely. The gift, from both clan and individ-ual members, got a big round of applause at the open-ing ceremonies, with hundreds present.

There are big plans to try and convert the old castletower to a time share project. The cost would approachthree million pounds and would be financed from thetime share project itself. The marketing worldwide of

such a scheme would be vital, of course. The greatadvantage of the scheme is that if successful the oldcastle would be brought up to a fully habitable state.There are severe building restrictions on such a devel-opment by Historic Scotland and other bureaucraticbodies and these include things like installing firesprinklers. All the stone work and windows wouldneed massive major work. We shall wait with interestto see how this develops. Meanwhile at a meeting ofthe commissioners and presidents of the worldwidesocieties it was agreed that all the Clan MacKenzieSocieties should make an effort to raise funds to deal

page 17

At the Gathering. The Ball - Toronto Commissioner Norman S.MacKenzie, Lieutenants to Cabarfeidh: Sonia Mackenzie (New

Zealand), Alan McKenzie (Canada) and (Canadian Clan Secretary)Mary-Lou Oyler

The Gathering - Angus MacKenzie (with the sign) and hisMackenzie Holidays coach party. The man kneeling on the

right is Donald McKenzie - to be the next US Clan President.

with the most urgent repairs to the castle. It is our intention to put as many photos of the

Gathering on the website as we can get and we areincluding some in this issue of Cabar Feidh.

I gave a talk on DNA to about 30 people and wesigned up seven new members to the DNA Project. Wenow have 86 Mac/McKenzies in the Project and manyof them are starting to upgrade from 12 markers to 37markers as they find a number of matches with otherclansmen. If any male Mac/McKenzie would like tojoin the DNA Project then send me an email atalan@mkz.com and we will sort it out for you.

I was pleased to make a reacquaintance with a 4th

cousin from New Zealand and we are each going to gofor 37 markers to test our relationship further. I wasalso introduced to another 4th cousin from Australiawho descends from the New Zealand Branch of thatvast family. It was our first ever meeting, and he waspresent at my DNA talk and came up and introducedhimself afterwards. Such are the unexpected pleasuresthat a Clan Gathering can produce.

One of the things we learned at the Gathering wasthat Cabarfeidh and Lady Cromartie are to be the spe-cial guests at Stone Mountain in October 2006.Norman MacKenzie and I immediately thought thiswould be a great opportunity for a coach trip to Stone

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The Gathering - A part of the Canadian contingent on the steps in front of Castle Leod. Front row heidyins are Cabarfeidh, Alan McKenzie andNorman S. MacKenzie. Alan’s son-in-law holds the youngest attendee, Alan’s youngest grandchild, Delia McKenzie Jansen.

Mountain - one of the finest Highland Games resorts inthe world. So watch out for future reports on this sub-ject. Stone Mountain is near Atlanta, Georgia and iswell worth visiting.

Gathering - Torchlight Procession from Castle Leod ended with a hugebonfire

Didier Bauland, President of the Clan MacKenzie in France and hiswife.

Lady Julia Mackenzie. By her side is our new Commissioner for NovaScotia, James Malcolm MacKenzie.

Some leading Mackenzies in the USA invited Alan to dinner at the CoulHouse Hotel, the former home of the Mackenzies of Coul.

A shieling at Newtonmore Highland Museum

Janet, Lady Cromartie with Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh Ron McKenzie

Driving to Applecross - approaching Loch Marie At the Applecross Museum

Returning from Applecross down the tortuous “Pass of the Cattle

And of course - a visit to Eilean Donan Castle was not to be missed!

The New Zealanders in the March Past the Chief at the StrathpefferHighland Games

And here are the Canadians. Despite the raincoats, the rain kindly heldoff during the march.

For more photos in colour from the Clan Mackenzie Gathering go to our website: www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie