History of the Mackenzies, with genealogies of the principal families of the nameMackenzie, Alexander
History
History of the Mackenzies, with genealogies of the principal families of the name
Mackenzie, Alexander
Mackenzie family; Scotland -- Genealogy; Seaforth, Earls of
into association were exactly the same as those professed by Leslie
himself. Considering this, and seeing that the independence of
Scotland was at stake, he urged that all Scotsmen should join for
the preservation of their common liberties. Middleton proposed to
join Leslie, to place himself under his command, and expressed a
hope that he would not shed the blood of his countrymen nor force
them to shed the blood of their bethren in self-defence. These
communications ended in a treaty between Leslie and the leading
Royalists at Strathbogie, dated 4th November, by which Middleton
and his followers received an indemnity, and laid down their arms.
["Balfour," vol, iv., p. 129. "Highland Clans," p. 285]
Immediately after the battle of Worcester, at which Charles was
defeated by Cromwell in 1651 - where we find among those present
Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine as one of the Colonels of foot
for Inverness and Ross, and Alexander Cam Mackenzie, fourth son
of Alexander, fifth of Gairloch - Charles fled to the Continent,
and, after many severe hardships and narrow escapes, he found
refuge in Flanders, where he continued to reside, often in great
want and distress, until the Restoration, when in May, 1660,
he returned to England "indolent, selfish, unfeeling, faithless,
ungrateful, and insensible to shame or reproach." The Earl of
Cromarty says that subsequent to the treaty agreed upon between
Middleton and Leslie at Strathbogie, "Seaforth joined the King at
Stirling. After the fatal battle of Worcester he continued a close
prisoner until the Restoration of Charles." He was excepted from
Oliver Cromwell's Act of Grace and Pardon in 1654, and his estates
were forfeited, without any provision being allowed out of it for
his wife and family. He supported the King's cause as long as there
was an opportunity of fighting for it in the field, and when forced
to submit to the opposing forces of Cromwell and the Commonwealth,
he was committed to prison, where, with "much firmness of mind
and nobility of soul," he endured a tedious captivity for many
years, until Charles II. was recalled, when he ordered his old and
faithful friend Seaforth to be released, after which he became a
great favourite at his licentious and profligate Court.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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