Publisher's Synopsis
Mackenzie (1838-98) was a Scottish historian, author, magazine editor and politician. Born on a croft in Gairloch in the North-West Highlands, he had little opportunity for education and initially earned his living as a labourer and ploughman. In 1861 he became apprenticed in the clothing trade selling Scottish cloth in Colchester, and in 1869 settled in Inverness where he and his brother set up a clothes shop. He later became an editor and publisher of the Celtic Magazine and the Scottish Highlander, and he wrote numerous clan histories. He was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, a founder member of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, and in 1894 was elected an 'Honorary Chieftan'. In the 1880s Mackenzie became actively involved in the Highland land issue, campaigning for security of tenure for crofters, and in 1883 published his History of the Highland Clearances which has remained in print to the present day. This collection of stories by various authors including himself which had first appeared individually in the Celtic Magazine was first published in book form in 1878.
