man of the district of Kenlochewe, named Donald Dubh MacGillecrist
vic Gillereoch, who with the rest of the clan was at Flodden with
his chief. In the retreat of the Scottish army this Donald Dubh
heard some one near him exclaiming, 'Alas, Laird! thou hast fallen.'
On enquiry, he was told it was the Laird of Buchanan, who had sunk
from his wounds or exhaustion. The faithful Highlander, eager to
revenge the death of his chief and foster-brother, drew his sword,
and, saying, 'If he has not fallen he shall fall,' made straight
to Buchanan, whom he killed on the spot."

As to the safe return of John of Kintail and Hector Roy to their
Highland home, after this calamitous event, there is now no question
whatever; for we find John among others, afterwards appointed, by
Act of Council, a Lieutenant or Guardian of Wester Ross, [Gregory,
p. 115. Acts of Lords of Council, xxvi., fo. 25.] to protect it
from Sir Donald Gallda Macdonald of Lochalsh, when he proclaimed
himself Lord of the Isles. In 1515, Mackenzie, without legal
warrant, seized the Royal Castle of Dingwall, but professed his
readiness to give it up to any one appointed by the Regent, John,
Duke of Albany. [Acts of Lords of Council, xxvii., fo. 60.] In
1532 he is included in a commission by James V. for suppressing a
disorderly tribe of Mackintoshes. He secured the esteem of this
monarch so much that he appointed him a member of his Privy Council.

To put the question of John's return beyond question, and to show
how the family rose rapidly in influence and power during his
rule, we shall quote the Origines Parochiales Scotia, from which
it will also be seen that Kenneth, John's heir, received considerable
grants for himself during his father's lifetime: "In 1509 King
James IV. granted to John Makkenzie of Keantalle (the brother of