predecessor as Governor of Ellandonnan Castle. The other half of
Kintail belonged to O'Beolan, one of whose chiefs, Ferchair, was
created Earl of Ross, and his lands were given to Cailean Fitzgerald."
It will be proved by incontestible public documents still in
existence, that these identical lands were, except that they once
for a time exchanged them with a relative for lands in Buchan,
uninterruptedly possessed by the Earls of Ross, the descendants
of this Ferchair, or Farquhar, for two centuries after the battle
of Largs.

While the Earl of Cromartie and other clan historians accept the
Fitzgerald origin by marriage with a daughter of Kenneth Matheson of
Lochalsh, the Mathesons maintain that the first Mackenzie, or Mac
Choinnich - the actual progenitor of the clan - was a son of their
chief, Coinneach Gruamach, and that the Mackenzies are thus only a
sept, or minor branch of the Mathesons. It must in fairness be
admitted that the latter contention is quite as near the truth as
the Fitzgerald theory and it must have already occurred to the
reader, how, if the Fitzgerald origin of the Mackenzies had been
true, has it come about that the original patronymic of Fitzgerald
has given way to that of Mackenzie? It is not pretended that it
was ever heard of after Colin himself.

This difficulty occurred even to the Earl of Cromartie, and this
is how he attempts to dispose of it. Cailean, he says, had a son
by the daughter of Kenneth Mac Mhathoin, or Matheson, whom he named
Coinneach, or Kenneth, after his father-in-law Kenneth Matheson;
Cailean himself was killed in Glaic Chailein by Mac Mhathoin,
who envied him, and was sore displeased at Colin's succession to
Matheson's ancient heritage; Colin was succeeded by his son Kenneth,