The Mackenzies of Scatwell, Ross-shire, who also possess a baronetcy, are descended from Sir Roderick Mackenzie, knight, of Tarbet and Cogeach, second son of Colin, eleventh feudal baron of Kintail, father of Sir John Mackenzie, ancestor of the Earls of Cromarty, and Kenneth Mackenzie of Scatwell, whose son, Kenneth, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, February 22, 1703. By his marriage with Lilias, daughter and heiress of Sir Roderick Mackenzie of Findon, that branch of the Mackenzie family merged in that of Scatwell.
Other principal families of the name are Mackenzie of Allangrange, heir male of the Earls of Seaforth; of Applecross, also a branch of the house of Seaforth; of Ord, of Gruinard, and of Hilton, all in Ross-shire.
Mathieson.
The name Mathieson, or Clan Mhathain, is said to come from the Gaelic Mathaineach, heroes, or rather, from Mathan, pronounced Mahan, a bear. The MacMathans were settled in Lochalsh, a district of Wester Ross, from an early period. They are derived by ancient genealogies from the same stock as the Earls of Ross and are represented by the MS. of 1450 as a branch of the Mackenzies. Kenneth MacMathan, who was constable of the castle of Ellandonan, is mentioned both in the Norse account of the expedition of the king of Norway against Scotland in 1263, and in the Chamberlain’s Rolls for that year, in connection with that expedition. He is said to have married a sister of the Earl of Ross. The chief of the clan was engaged in the rebellion of Donald, Lord of the Isles, in 1411, and was one of the chiefs arrested at Inverness by James I., in 1427, when he is said to have been able to muster 2000 men. The possessions of the Mathiesons, at one time very extensive, were greatly reduced, in the course of the 16th century, by feuds with their turbulent neighbours, the Macdonalds of Glengarry.
Of this clan Mr Skene says,—“Of the history of this clan we know nothing whatever. Although they are now extinct, they must at one time have been one of the most powerful clans in the north, for among the Highland chiefs seized by James I. at the parliament held at Inverness in 1427, Bower mentions Macmaken leader of two thousand men, and this circumstance affords a most striking instance of the rise and fall of different families; for, while the Mathison appears at that early period as the leader of two thousand men, the Mackenzie has the same number only, and we now see the clan of Mackenzie extending their numberless branches over a great part of the North, and possessing an extent of territory of which few families can exhibit a parallel, while the one powerful clan of the Mathisons has disappeared, and their name become nearly forgotten.”
Siol Alpine.
Under the general denomination of Siol Alpine are included several clans situated at considerable distances from one another, but all of them supposed to have been descended from Kenneth Macalpine, the founder of the Scottish monarchy, and the ancestor of a long line of Scottish kings. The validity of this lofty pretension has, however, been disputed; and, in point of fact, it appears that the clans, composing the Siol Alpine, were never united under the authority of a common chief, but, on the contrary, were, from the earliest period, at variance amongst themselves; in consequence of which they sunk into insignificance, and became of little account or importance in a general estimate of the Highland tribes. The principal clan appears to have been that of the Macgregors, a race famous for their misfortunes as well as the unbroken spirit with which they maintained themselves linked and banded together in spite of the most severe laws executed with the greatest rigour against all who bore this proscribed name.
Macgregor.
The Macgregors are generally esteemed one of the purest of all the Celtic tribes, and there seems to be no doubt of their unmixed and direct descent from the ancient Celtic inhabitants of Scotland. They were once numerous in Balquhidder and Menteith, and also in Glenorchy, which appears to have been their original seat. An air of romance has been thrown around this particular clan from the exploits and adventures of the celebrated Rob Roy, and the cruel sufferings and proscriptions to which they were, at different times, subjected by the government.
MACGREGOR.