Hector Roy Mackenzie

Hector Roy Mackenzie of Gairloch (died 1528) was a prominent member of the Mackenzie clan, who acquired vast estates in and around Gairloch as a result of his services to the Scottish crown and challenged his nephew for the chiefship of the clan.

Hector was the son of Alexander Mackenzie, chief of the clan, by his second wife Margaret Macdonald, the daughter of Roderick Macdonald of Clanranald, 3rd of Moidart.

Following Alexander Mackenzie’s death in 1488, Hector’s half-brother Kenneth succeeded to the chiefship. Kenneth died in 1491 and was succeeded by his son, Kenneth Og, to whom Hector was appointed to act as Tutor. Kenneth Og is thought to have died in 1497 and, on his death, the succession to the chiefship became uncertain. The elder Kenneth had had another son, John, by Agnes Fraser, the daughter of Lord Lovat, but their union had been irregular and John was widely regarded as illegitimate. Hector was appointed to act as John’s Tutor, but had higher ambitions.

It is clear that Hector had by then already acquired at least a paper title to a large estate. When the Lords of the Association, a factious party of the nobility, took up arms against James III, Alexander of Kintail despatched his sons, Kenneth and Hector, with a retinue of 500, to join the Royal standard; but Kenneth, hearing of the death of his father on his arrival at Perth,returned home at the request of the Earl of Huntly; and the clan was led by Hector Roy to the battle of Sauchieburn, near Stirling. After the defeat of the Royal forces, and the death there in 1488 of the King himself, Hector, who narrowly escaped, returned to Ross-shire and took the stronghold of Redcastle, then held for the rebels by Rose of Kilravock, and placed a garrison in it. He then joined the Earl of Huntly and the clans in the north who were rising to avenge the death of His Majesty but meanwhile orders came from the youthful King James IV, who had been at the head of the conspirators, ordering the Northern chiefs to lay down their arms, and to submit to the powers that be.

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