Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay, fiar of Strathnaver

Sir Donald IV Mackay Kt, (1590-1649 in Denmark). Cr: Baronet 18 may 1627 with remainders to heirs male whatsoever and 1st Lord Reay created 20 June 1628 with remainder to his heirs male for ever bearing the name and arms of Mackay. A further patent creating him Earl of Strathnaver was never completed owing to the Civil war., Fought under Christian IV of Denmark's Thirty year War against Germany Also under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden 1629-30; Royalist Civil war.

Married (1) 1610 to Barbara, sister of 1st Earl of Seaforth,

married (2) 1631 (Annulled) to Rachel Winterfield,

1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.2.3. (Second Marriage) Hon Donald Mackay, (1658-1680), Master of Reay, married 1677 to Anne Munro, with issue.

married  (3) 1631 to Elizabeth Thomson, married 

(4) to Marjorie Sinclair of Stirkoke, and

also held a mistress, Lady Mary Lindsay, daughter of 11th Earl of Crawford

1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.13. (illegitimate with Lady Mary Lindsay) Donald Mackay of Dysart, (1620 - 1659 Dysart), married 1640 to Isobel Ramsay, (illegitimate daughter of William Ramsay, 1st Earl of Dalhousie d. 1672), with issue.

http://www.maltagenealogy.com/Libro%20d'Oro%20della%20Mediterranean/Mackay.html

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Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay1

M, #109197, b. March 1590/91, d. 1649
Last Edited=21 Aug 2012

Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay was born in March 1590/91.2 He was the son of Hugh 'Du' Mackay and Lady Jane Gordon.3

He married, fourthly, Marjorie Sinclair, daughter of Francis Sinclair of Stirkoke.2

He married, firstly, Barbara Mackenzie, daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail and Anne Ross, in August 1610.3,4

He married, thirdly, Elizabeth Thomson in 1631.2 He died in 1649.1

He and Lady Jean Lindsay were associated.3

With remainder to heirs male whatsoever.2 With remainder to his heirs male for ever bearing the name and arms of Mackay (a further patent creating him Earl of Strathnaver was never completed owing to the Civil War).2 Royalist Civil War England and Scotland.2 He was Justice of the Peace (J.P.) (Inverness and Cromarty in 1610.2 In 1612 Sutherland ).2 In 1616 knighted.2 In 1627 fought under CHRISTIAN IV OF DENMARK Thirty Years War Germany , such service probably winning him his peerage in that CHRISTIAN's n was CHARLES I, and 1629–30 under GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS OF SWEDEN.2 He was created 1st Baronet Mackay on 18 May 1627.2 He was created 1st Lord Reay [Scotland] on 20 June 1628.1

Child of Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay and Elizabeth Thomson

• 1.Ann Mackay3

Child of Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay and Mary Lindsay

• 1.Donald Mackay of Dysart3

Children of Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay and Marjorie Sinclair

• 1.Christina Mackay+3
• 2.Rupert Mackay2
• 3.Margaret Mackay2 d. 1720
• 4.William Mackay of Kinloch3
• 5.Charles Mackay of Sandwood3

Children of Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay and Barbara Mackenzie

• 1.Lt.-Col. Angus Mackay of Melness3 d. bt 1699 - 1703
• 2.Mary Mackay3
• 3.Hugh Mackay of Strathnaver4 d. b 1652
• 4.Jane Mackay4
• 5.Iye Mackay of Strathnaver4 b. c 1611, d. 1617
• 6.John Mackay, 2nd Lord Reay+1 b. c 1612, d. a 1680

Citations

• 1.[S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume X, page 753. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
• 2.[S37] Volume 3, page 3301. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
• 3.[S37] See. [S37]
• 4.[S3268] Hans Harmsen, "re: Chester Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 21 August 2008. Hereinafter cited as "re: Chester Family

http://www.thepeerage.com/p10920.htm#i109197

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Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay

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Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay (March 1591 – February 1649), known as Sir Donald Mackay, 1st Baronet, from 1627 to 1628, was a Scottish peer and soldier.

Mackay was the eldest son of Huistean Du. He was created a Baronet, of Strathnaver, in 1627 and the following year he was raised to the Peerage of Scotland as Lord Reay, of Reay in the County of Caithness. In 1626 he raised a regiment under a charter from King Charles I, with which he served with distinction in Denmark, then under Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War.[1] He later fought as a Royalist in the Civil War.

Lord Reay was married four times.

• He married, firstly, Barbara Mackenzie, sister of Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth, in 1610.
• He married, secondly, Rachel Winterfield or Harrison, sometime before 1631. This marriage was annulled. He married, thirdly, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Thomson, and
• fourthly, Marjorie, daughter of Francis Sinclair. Lord Reay died in February 1649, aged 57, and was succeeded in his titles by his son John.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Mackay,_1st_Lord_Reay

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REAY, Lord, a title in the peerage of Scotland, conferred in 1628, on Sir Donald Mackay of Far, baronet, the elder son of Hucheon or Hugh Mackay, by his second wife, Lady Jean Gordon, eldest daughter of the eleventh earl of Sutherland. He was born in February 1591....

He obtained his release after the battle of Kilsyth in August 1645, and embarked at Thurso in July 1648 for Denmark, where he died in February 1649.

He married, first, in 1610, Barbara, eldest daughter of Kenneth, Lord Kintail, and had by her Y Mackay, who died in 1617; John, second Lord Reay, two other sons and two daughters.

By a second wife, Rachel Winterfield or Harrison, he had two sons, the Hon. Robert Mackay Forbes and the Hon. Hugh Forbes. Of this marriage he procured a sentence of nullity, ... but in 1637 was ordained to pay his second wife £2,000 sterling for part maintenance, and £3,000 sterling yearly during his non-adherence.

and then took to wife Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Thomson of Greenwich, By Elizabeth Thomson he had one daughter.

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/reay.htm

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XIV. Donads, 1st Lord Reay, 1614-49.

ALLAN CAMERON of Lochiel, the recognised head of his clan
since 1585, got into much trouble in consequence of the claims of superiority over him made by the rival houses of Argyle and Huntly. To begin with, he was a vassal of Huntly ; but as Argyle furbished up some old writs of superiority, Allan transferred his allegiance to the latter house much to the chagrin of the Gordons, who endeavoured to punish Lochiel by stirring up a section of his clansmen against him. Allan by stratagem induced the disaffected Camerons to attack himself, and by an ambuscade completely overthrew them. Huntly then raised a hue and cry as the jealous guardian of order, brought the matter before the Privy Council and got Cameron denounced rebel and murderer,1 with the usual consequences. On the 10th February, 1610, the Privy Council issued a commission to Lord Lovat, Mackenzie of Gairloch, Mackenzie of Kintail, Mackay of Farr, etc., for the apprehension of Allan, so that the heather was fairly alit on the Braes of Lochaber. In the ensuing operations Donald Mackay took some part. Both he and Sir Robert Gordon with 300 well appointed men proceeded as far as the town of Inverness in August, 1612; and again on the 9th December, 1613, a levy of Gordons and Mackays were summoned from the north by order of the Council to pursue Allan Cameron. In the second expedition Gordon of Embo and Donald Mackay marched with over 450 men into the heart of Lochaber to co-operate with other troops, as Sir Robert Gordon informs us. But resourceful Allan managed to hold his own with the help of Argyle.

Meantime Donald was called upon to bear a hand in an affair nearer home. Sir Robert Gordon represented to the king that Arthur Smith, a native of Banff, was forging false coin in Thurso under the patronage of the Earl of Caithness. What truth there was in Sir Robert's story we cannot say, but that he sought the ruin of Caithness is evident from after events. Anyway, Sir Robert obtained a commission to apprehend Smith and prudently passed it on for execution to his nephew, Donald Mackay. In May, 1612, Mackay and Gordon, younger of Embo, with a considerable following proceeded to Thurso, where they apprehended Smith after a stubborn fight with the townspeople in which John Sinclair of Stirkoke, nephew of the Earl of Caithness, was killed and others wounded. So fiercely were they assailed, that the Mackays slew Smith in the' outskirts of the town lest he should be rescued by the Sinclairs.

As the slaughter of Stirkoke had already resulted in a legal process and might provoke sterner reprisals on the part of the Sinclairs, Sir Robert Gordon induced King James, as he says himself, to grant a remission under the Great Seal, 13th January, 1614, to Donald Mackay and others for the bloodshed at Thurso, and in this manner got to windward of the Caitlmessmen. At the same time, this new estrangement of the Sinclairs and Mackays suited his policy admirably. The remission, which we give in our Appendix No. 29, shows that there were two pipers of the party, and it may be of interest to observe that one of them was a Macrimmon, a member of the famous family of Skye pipers.

About this time Lord Forbes took possession of the lands of Dunbeath, Reay, Sandside, etc., which were bequeathed to him by his deceased brother-in-law, George Sinclair, and incurred in consequence the hostility of the Earl of Caithness, who considered he had a better right to these lauds himself. The quarrels which speedily followed ranged the Earl of Sutherland, Lord Forbes, and Mackay in opposition to the Earl of Caithness, and sent the whole four up to Edinburgh for legal arbitrament. During the conflict before the Council, the Earl of Caithness produced William Kemp, burgess of Edinburgh, 24th March, 1615, to testify to a plot against him, and his evidence was as follows :—

"Deponis that he came yisternight to the Erll of Caithness & desyrit him to tak heade to him self, for thair was people in this toun that bore him no goode will & were his unfriendis. Deponis he reveillit this to the Erll of Caithness upoun this occasion : to witt, that yisterday, aboute foure of the cloke in the afternoone, he being in his awne house mud onlie betwix them, speeke amangis thame salffis in thair drinking that the Erll of Caithness had done a ruffle to McKy, and it might be that he sould rew that dayis labour ; and the depouner knawis not the men, bot has seen thame in company with the Erll of Sutherland, the Lord Forbes, and McKay in thair going up and dounn the streit."

Caithness made nothing of it by his journey to Edinburgh, but this need not imply that he was wholly in the wrong, for the Privy Council of that period was a most corrupt body, appointed by the king to execute his autocratic will, 1 and often did so at the expense of justice.

As the Earl of Sutherland died in the autumn of 1615, leaving an elder son John, six years of age, Sir Robert Gordon became tutor or governor for his young nephew, and acquired considerable power throughout the diocese of Caithness during the following fifteen years. Towards the close of the year 1615, Lord Forbes' corn-yard at Sandside was set on fire and burnt to the ground. Suspicion at once fixed upon the Earl of Caithness as the instigator of the arson, and confessions were made by some Gunns that they were incited to do the deed by his Lordship. But it is not at all certain that Caithness was guilty. The Gunns hated him for his late betrayal of their clan, and may have sought revenge in this fashion. But guilty or not, it practically ruined him.

The astute Sir Robert Gordon, who shows himself that he had much influence with King James, got mixed up in the affair, and so hunted Caithness from pillar to post that he became a fit object of pity to his bitterest enemies. Caithness was reduced to bankruptcy, put to the horn, and denounced rebel, while his elder son, Lord Berriedale, was flung into an Edinburgh prison where he lay for five years. The tale of prosecution against the fallen Caithness recorded in the Privy Council Register and in the Earldom of Sutherland is very cruel, and there is no doubt that in this matter Donald Mackay suffered himself to become too much the accomplice of his uncle, Sir Robert.

Towards the close of spring, 1616, Sir Robert, Donald Mackay, Lord Forbes, etc., proceeded to Edinburgh in connection with the prosecution of the Earl of Caithness, and having set the machinery of the law in motion, such as it was, Sir Robert and Mackay went up to London where the latter was knighted, as Sir Donald Mackay of Strathnaver. Sir Donald returned north by way of Fife and accompanied by Lady Mary Lindsay, sister of Lord Crawford, reached Durness by boat about the middle of August. Lady Lindsay's trip to Durness was the occasion of just resentment on the part of Sir Donald's wife, Lady Mackay, as the Privy Council Register shows.

From about this time Mackay sheered off more and more from his uncle, Sir Robert. He came to see that Sir Robert's plan was to crush Caithness with one hand and to destroy himself with the other. As far as the house of Mackay was concerned, Sir Robert's policy was, as enunciated by himself in his Advice to his nephew of Sutherland, "use Mackay rather as your vassal than as your companion ; and because they are usually proud and arrogant, let them know that you are their superior. Let Mackay his pincell [banner] never be displayed when yours is." The advice was foolish ; and small wonder if the man who received the counsel and acted upon it brought heaps of trouble upon himself, as the future will show. There lay in this policy two generations of strife, during which both families were brought to the verge of ruin, because the one family was just as proud as the other.

The erratic Earl of Caithness in his accumulating distresses stretched out his hands towards Mackay, his late enemy but the natural ally of his house, and in April, 1618, Sir Donald paid a visit to the earl at Brawl Castle, when there was delivered to him "some old writs of certane lands in Strathnaver and other places within the dyacie of Catteyness, appertayning to some of Sir Donald his predicessors." Evidently these writs came into the possession of the earl's grandfather when Huistean Du Mackay was his ward, and probably many valuable documents belonging to the Mackays were lost at that troublous period. The information which Sir Donald got in these old writs would naturally increase his estrangement from the house of Sutherland, and make him more determined than ever to stand on his guard.

It will be remembered that on two previous occasions the Earl of Caithness attempted what was expected to have a warlike object under the guise of a hunting expedition. The earl seems to have had as much faith in a hunting expedition as Mr. Weller, senior, had in an alibi, for on the 22nd June, 1619, the Privy Council, at the instigation of Sir Robert Gordon, inhibited the Earl of Caithness and Sir Donald Mackay from making snch an expedition in Sutherland, as it was believed they meant mischief. Two years after this (August, 1621), Mackay refused to meet his uncle at Elgin for a settlement of their disputes, but in May of the following year they had a meeting at Tain, and entered into an argument regarding the marches between Strathnaver and Sutherland.

During these years Sir Robert Gordon was very much at Court and a prime favourite there, as he takes good care to inform his readers. On the 25th May, 1621, the king advised the Privy Council to grant Sir Robert a commission of Fire and Sword against the Earl of Caithness, but he did not move forthwith although the commission was offered to him. To smite Caithness was of his own seeking, but he wanted to do it in a way of his own. After conference with the king upon the point (June, 1623), Sir Robert appeared before the Council and got them to insert in the commission the names of Sir Donald Mackay, Sir Alexr. Gordon, and James Sinclair of Murkle, along with his own. At the same time, letters were issued commanding the inhabitants of Ross, Sutherland, Strathnaver and Orkney to assist Sir Robert in the execution of his task. To insert the name of Mackay in a commission of Fire and Sword against the Earl of Caithness, now his friend, was a clever move, and more was to follow. In order to eliminate all hazard of firing a shot, Sir Robert got the Privy Council to make it criminal for Caithnessmen to carry or use fire-arms, 29th July, 1623.

Having carefully removed every element of danger out of the way, Sir Robert set out for Caithness in September, and marched from victory to victory receiving the keys of no less than three castles, as lie tells us in most grandiloquent language. Sir Robert did not catch his man ; but what of that, he swept every thing before him!

And such was the terror of his name that not a hostile shot was fired in all Caithness ! But remember, good reader, the Caithnessmen were disarmed before Sir Robert ventured to cross the Ord, and were consequently not in a position to lift a musket. Although his name was in the commission, Sir Donald took no part in the inglorious campaign. He only appeared in Wick when all was over, to be told by the pseudo-hero that his services were not now required.

On the 20th August, 1623, "Sir Donald McKay of Strathnaver" was appointed by the Privy Council a Justice of the Peace for Sutherland and Strathnaver, and on the 11th November of the same year the inhabitants of Strathnaver petitioned the Council through Sir Donald to be exempted from the prohibition to carry fire-arms, which had lately been passed against the inhabitants of the diocese of Caithness. About this time Sir Donald began to add largely to his landed estate. In 1624 he bought the lands of Reay, Sandside, etc. from Lord Forbes, the Little Isles of Strathnaver, formerly pertaining to Farquhar, the physician, from William Macallan on the 6th October and on the 7th April, 1625, he purchased the 27 merklands of Moidart and the 24 merklands of Arisaig from John McRonald, Chief of Clan Ronald. But in order to raise money for his Continental military expedition, he had to sell the lands of Moidart and Arisaig to Colin, Earl of Seaforth, towards the close of the year 1626. The great Thirty Years' War, in which Frederick, Elector

Palatine, son-in-law of James VI, took such a prominent part on the Protestant side, was raging on the Continent. It eventually developed into a European war of Protestant versus Catholic States, and found many active English participants who drew the sword partly out of sympathy with the king's son-in-law, and partly out of sympathy with their co-religionists abroad. Sir Donald Mackay heard the brazen blare of the war-trumpet in distant Strathnaver, saw an opportunity of taking part in the struggle, and found himself overmastered by the fighting instincts of his race. So far as Ave can gather, Sir Donald was not strongly religious, but he was warlike and ambitious. Though not over rich it was not the want of money that drove him abroad, for there was no money in the cause when he espoused it, and certain it is that he did not increase his wealth thereby. The illgotten charter of regality by which Sir Robert Gordon governed the north so circumscribed Mackay's energies at home, that he felt constrained to lure Dame Fortune in a wider field abroad by the offer of his sword. In pursuance of this object, he sought liberty from King Charles I. to raise a regiment for the assistance of Count Mansfelt, then in the field supporting the Elector. The crave had an immediate response.

" The Privy Council granted a commission in virtue of warrant from his Majesty of date 3rd March (1626), empowering Sir Donald of Strathnaver to levy a regiment of 2000 men anywhere in Scotland and transport them to the Continent for service under Count Mansfelt. The Council on the same day addressed a circular letter to a number of lairds in the Highlands representing that, as they had many idle men within their bounds, they could not do better than urge all such to enlist under Sir Donald and his captains, so that they might be trained in military discipline, and be creditably employed on good wages abroad, instead of loitering uselessly at home."

In raising his regiment Sir Donald wisely adopted the plan of getting young adventurous men of good families to earn a commissoned rank by securing so many recruits. The response was unparalleled in our country, so far as we know. Before the 15th May, or in a little over nine weeks, 3600 troops officered by the cream1 of Scotland's fighting men, Highland and Lowland, were ready for the lagging transports. The bulk of the rank and file were " bonny men " from the glens and islands, with a sprinkling of broken-men,2 sorners, etc., who with such a backbone made a splendid fighting machine. Probably a hardier lot never left our rugged shores for war's gory field, and we are not surprised to learn that they carved for themselves the proud title of "The Scottish Invincibles," in consequence of their prowess under the great Gustavus Adolphus.

Although Mackay's regiment was ready for embarkation before the 15th May, for lack of transports they were not able to sail from Cromarty until the 6th October. Meantime "Mackay seikned and hardly escaped," and the troops had to depart without him. But Mackay embarked at Leith on the 18th January following, and

joined his regiment in Holstein, towards the end of March, where it lay in winter quarters. As Christian IV, King of Denmark, uncle of Charles I., had by this time joined in a Protestant alliance of Britain, the Dutch States, and Denmark to oppose the Austrian Imperialists, Mackay took service under the Dane and forthwith had his men sworn in.

The Mackays had their first bloody baptism towards the end of July, at Boitzenburg, on the Elbe, where four companies under Major Dunbar, left to guard the town, were assailed by Tilly with about 10,000 men. Thrice did the Imperialists rush to the assault but they were as often driven back with great gallantry, and at last had to retire with the loss of over 1000 men. As Dunbar's four companies only numbered 800 altogether, they gave a very good account of themselves in their first tussle.

Their next great exploit was at the Pass of Oldenburg, which Sir Donald was instructed to hold at all hazard, in order to enable the Duke of Wiemar to embark his troops at Heiligenhafn. From daybreak to sunset of a late October day, Mackay held the pass with his men against an overwhelming host under Tilly. Torn and stung by shot and ball, they clung to the position with a heroic tenacity which defied the indomitable Tilly. As may be imagined their losses were very heavy. Sir Donald himself was severely wounded by the explosion of a barrel of gunpowder, but he grimly stuck to his post while Sir Patrick McKie of Largs and other officers had to be carried off the field. When the regiment went into winter quarters shortly after this, of the 3600 men who had embarked at Cromarty, only a twelvemonth before, but 800 whole and about 150 maimed survived. In other words, in a four months' campaign they lost three-fourths of their number. Truly the glory of war is bought at a great price !

As the regiment was in such a reduced state, Sir Donald started for Scotland soon afterwards accompanied by special officers to beat up new recruits ; but we imagine he had some difficulty in getting the requisite number. Since the embodiment of Mackay's regiment Scotland had been denuded of her fighting men, for she had sent abroad about 10,000 soldiers,1 very few of whom ever returned. In the circumstances he took some time to raise his levy, and practically drained Strathnaver of its able-bodied men.

While recruiting at home Mackay proceeded to Loudon where, on the 19th January, he obtained from King Charles I. a charter under the Great Seal of the lands of Reay, Sandside, Davochow, Borlum, Easald, Achatrescar, Auchamerland, and Showarie, as resigned by Alexander, Lord Forbes, some time previously, and now created into a barony burgh with various privileges, one of which was four annual fairs2 at Reay. About the same time Sir Donald was created Lord Reay as a reward for his valuable services to the Danish king in the German war—the Patent of Nobility was issued 20th June, 1628. His proper and natural title was Lord Strathnaver, but the Sutherland family picked that up in 1588, when they secured the superiority of Strathnaver from the king. At an earlier date, 18th May, 1627, Sir Donald was made a Bart, of Nova Scotia, being abroad at the time.

Towards the close of the summer of 1628, Lord Reay set out with a levy of 1000 men and joined his regiment at Copenhagen ; but the struggles of the Danish king were nearly at an end for the present, and his place was soon taken by an abler man, Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, who stepped into the field as the champion of the Protestant cause. Reay took service with the Swedish king, and with the latter's commission, 17th June, 1629, returned to Scotland for more men. He was back in Denmark before the New Year, proceeded to Sweden in February, 1730, and thence passed over with his regiment to Germany, where he took part in the capture of Stettin, Damm, Colberg, etc.—the capture of the latter town was a very stiff affair in which his Lordship distinguished himself. As soon as the army went into winter quarters, after a very arduous campaign in which Lord Reay's men won great renown, his Lordship once more returned to Scotland for more men. In a great war it is always men, more men!

Proudly did Mackay return to his native shores fresh from the scene of his military triumphs, but " slippery is the step at the great man's door," as the Gaelic proverb hath it. On a missive from Charles I., 5th May, 1631, the Privy Council granted warrant (2nd June) to Lord Reay to raise 2000 men for service with Gustavus. bout the same time he was authorised by the King of Sweden to arrange with James, 3rd Marquis of Hamilton, as to the terms on which the latter would agree to raise 6000 men for service in Germany. The Marquis agreed, and soon Lord Reay and Hamilton's lieutenant, Ramsay, were busily engaged levying the troops ; which when they had done, his Lordship proceeded to London to thank the king for his aid to Hamilton, and requesting the loan of transports for the troops.

In an unguarded moment, Lord Reay confidentially told Lord Ochiltree, the hereditary enemy of the house of Hamilton, that the marquis intended to use the troops for treasonable purposes, as Ramsay had informed him. That the house of Hamilton often plotted against the Crown is a well known fact. Anyway, Ochiltree blazed the story abroad to the consternation of not a few ; Ramsay was called up to London and denied the charge, then Lord Reay challenged him to the proof of combat. A High Court of Chivalry was formed, 20th November, 1631, to enquire into the matter, and the 12th April following was fixed as the day of combat. The combat, however, never took place, for the king interfered and sent both Ramsay and Reay to the Tower, in order to preserve the peace. " The matter here refered to," says Professor Hume Brown, " is one of the many mysteries to be found in Scottish history... Whether from policy or from conviction of Hamilton's innocence, Charles consistently acted as if all were well."

This incident was disastrous to Reay. While his regiment was abroad gaining increased renown under Gustavus, he had to stay in London because of this miserable business ; and before the matter was settled the King of Sweden fell gloriously at Lutzen, and Reay was never repaid the vast sums of money he had borrowed to raise men for the German wars. Nay more, King Charles owed him £3000 which also he never received. Realizing his critical financial position, he denuded himself of his estate in favour of his son John, Master of Reay, 7th September, 1637, in order to protect the family interest in the storm which he saw looming.

A woman is said to be mixed up in most things, and that was the case in this instance. A Mrs. Rachel Wiuterfield, or Herison, claimed the adherence of Lord Reay, who, she asserted, was her husband. His Lordship, says Gordon of Sallagh, obtained a decree of nulity of marriage against her on the plea that her former husband was alive when she married him. We do not think they were ever married, and ground that opinion on the following. In a letter from his Lordship to Secretary Dorchester, 18th July, 1631, he says, "the warrand for apprehending that woman who calls herself the writer's wife has expired. He has got intelligence where she lives ; prays him to write to the Attorney-General to give out another warrand." Dorchester replies, 10 August, " the writer's secretary will have given Lord Reay a letter to the Attorney-General about a search after the woman mentioned by him." These documents seem to show that he prosecuted her for making a claim which he absolutely denied, and there is not a word about nullity of marriage. Anyway, wehn Reay's back was to the wall she caused him much trouble and expense, at the instigation of enemies, as we surmise.

In 1637, when King Charles was goading the Presbyterians of Scotland into revolt, the Marquis of Hamilton, who never forgave Mackay, had supreme power in Scotland, and Sir Robert Gordon was member of the Privy Council. The lady appeared before the Council, where " William Innes of Sandside did appear for him," i.e. for Lord Reay.

But "the stream of the secret council was so bent against him, having formerly irritated most of them in the Marquis of Hamilton's business, by making them accessory therto, that the sentence went against him on her side without delay. He was ordained to give her two thousand pounds sterling for her by-past maintenance during the suit, and three hundred pounds sterling yearly for her maintenance during his non-adherence.

This was a crushing fine spitefully imposed upon a man who was known to be financially wrecked already ; and it was very much the work of his unscrupulous uncle, Sir Robert Gordon, who had the meanness to forge documents in order to secure this monstrous verdict. The motive is evident. It was to compel Mackay to sell the lands along the river Naver, for which the Gordons were hungering, but it did not succeed. To pay the expense, Mackay sold the lands of Reay, Sandside, etc., to William Innes, who obtained a charter of them under the Great Seal that year.

How it fared with Lord Reay during 1632-37 we cannot say—the Privy Council Register covering that period has not yet been published—but that a man of- his active disposition and military prepossessions could remain idly at home in such a stirring time on the Continent is not likely. He had a commission from the Council to apprehend sorners etc., 6th March, 1634, a common method of raising recruits at that time, and in the letter of 1637 to Sir Alexander Gordon he speaks of " my company," indicating a military connection then existing. The probability is that he served abroad in the German wars during a portion of the above mentioned period, although we have no record of his achievements.

The imposition of Laud's Liturgy upon the Kirk, in 1637, raised a violent storm of resentment against the king throughout Scotland, in which the nobles joined the commons. What really alienated many of the nobles from King Charles was the Act of Revocation, passed some years earlier, annexing to the Crown all the Church lands which fell into the hands of the barons at the Reformation. Not a few of the nobles signed the National Covenant in 1638 to settle a score with the monarch who dared to alienate from them Church lands to which they had no moral right, and not because they were enthusiastically anti-Prelatists. As the Act of Revocation got the Earl of Sutherland into a considerable amount of difficulty over the Church lands of Caithness, it is probable that it helped to make him a Covenanter!

Lord Reay does not seem to have been in much sympathy with the National Covenant although he signed it at Inverness, 26th April, 1638, at a convocation of the northern burghs assembled for that purpose. Many other Royalists were in a similar plight ; they had to sign to save their face. 1 In all civil wars it is generally the same ; but from the very beginning Reay was reported to be on the king's side. Huntly was the king's leading supporter in the north, with whom Lord Reay communicated secretly and to whom he sent his elder son John, Master of Reay. In April, 1639, a ship laden with arms and ammunition for Lord Reay, and bound for Strathnaver, was driven into Peterhead by stress of weather and captured by the Covenanters. This ruined Reay's scheme of a Royalist rising in the far north, where the Mackenzies and the Sinclairs would have joined him. That same month, Montrose by a ruse captured Huntly, the Master of Reay, and others, in Aberdeen, and carried them prisoners to Edinburgh, where the Master of Reay was released upon signing the Covenant, and returned immediately to Strathnaver.

The Covenanter forces to the north of Spey were put under the command of Seaforth, who marched into Moray with about 4000 men, among whom were Reay and the Master of Reay " with the chois men of Strathnaver," about the middle of summer. At Chanonrie in the Black Isle, 7th June, 1639, Seaforth and Reay joined in a secret bond of friendship which is thoroughly Royalist. Its avowed purport was " the advancement of Religion, the king's Majesties service, and the keeping of peace." Nominally they were officers holding rank in a Covenanting army, but at heart aud in their secret councils they were Royalists. Naturally they did nothing but mark time till the peace at Berwick disbanded the northern army.

Next year war broke out again, Colonel Robert Munro was appointed Commander of the northern Covenanter forces, Seaforth and Reay were called up to Edinburgh, and by order of the Tables committed to two months' free ward on suspicion of being hostile to the cause. Warded in Edinburgh, Seaforth and Reay were prevented from dividing the council of those who in the north supported the Covenant. During the two following years Reay abode at home, and does not seem to have taken any active part in the struggle, probably through lack of opportunity.

In 1643 hostilities were resumed between the king and the Covenanters, the Earl of Sutherland was appointed Colonel of the horse and foot in Sutherland; and on the 17th July, Reay embarked at Aberdeen for Denmark, where he remained for some time in command of his son's (Colonel Angus) regiment. While thus engaged, Reay was in correspondence with King Charles and making strenuous preparations to come to his assistance. Early in 1644, Reay left Denmark with some ships laden with arms and treasure, to the value of about £20,000 Scots, and reached Newcastle shortly before it was invested by the Scots army.

Reay found Lord Crawford in command at Newcastle, and the two with much vigour applied themselves to the scientific fortification of the town. The siege, which began in February, proved a most obstinate one. Although a large and highly trained army under the veteran General Leslie hammered away at the town, it continued to hold out until 14th October, so gallantly was it defended.

" After the battell of Yorke, the Scotes Covenanters had all the north of England at their pleasure, only Newcastle stood for the king, which the lord Crawford and the lord Ilea, both Scotes men, defended valiantlie, while generall Lesly besieged it... These two had keipt it out beyond all expectation, with much currage and resolution, as their enemies did much admire and praise ther fidelitie."

Not till Leslie breached the walls of Newcastle with exploding mines, and shattered its fortifications, could he call the town his own. The defence of Newcastle was the most brilliant military exploit of the Royalists during the Civil war, for the dashing victories of Montrose were but rapid tumultuous Highland charges ; and the credit of it may justly be claimed for Lord Reay, whose military experience on the Continent made him the most capable general within its walls. After its fall, Reay and Crawford were sent prisoners to Edinburgh Castle where they lay till August, 1645, when Montrose gained his victory at Kilsyth. Meantime the Estates proscribed Reay and others, 18th June, 1644, and ten days thereafter excepted Reay and Himtly from a pardon which they granted to malignants ; but Lady Forbes interceded for Reay and her supplication came before the court in 1645. It was Kilsyth, however, that hastened the authorities to set Mackay free.

Mackay returned home and almost immediately found himself involved in a dispute with the Earl of Sutherland about lauds in the Naver Valley, but the points in dispute are difficult to expiscate. Gordon of Sallagh, continuator of the History of the Earldom of Sutherland, maintains that Reay sold the lauds along the Naver Valley to Sutherland in 1642, and Sutherland in his complaints to Parliament, whose ear he had as a Parliamentarian, claimed a right to these same lands. We find nothing in the Reay charter chests to indicate the substantiality of these claims, but much to the contrary. John Sutherland in Skelbo had sasine on a charter of apprising from John, Lord Reay, of the lands of Kerrownashein, 8th January, 1652, and his heir, Alexr. Sutherland of Torbol, had a similar sasine from

the said lord of the said lands, 5th November, 1656. The lands of Kerrownashein were the Aberach lands in dispute, and they were not sold to the Earl of Sutherland but seized for debt by Sutherland of Skelbo, as the Sasine Register proves. We shall afterwards show that the superiority of these lands pertained to Mackay as late as 1682, and consequently cannot understand on what ground the Earl of Sutherland is said to have purchased them in 1642. We observe that Sir William Fraser accepts Gordon of Sallagh's account, but we do not think that he was justified in doing so without further proof, in the light of what we have shown above. The probable explanation of the controversy is, that Sutherland was claiming the lands on behalf of his vassal of Torboll, and as Lieutenant of Sutherland.

Gordon of Sallagh relates that the Aberach Mackays raided Gruids and spoiled Gray of Creich in August, 1646. This seems to be confirmed by a letter from Sutherland to Reay a little later, which appears in Vol. III. of The Sutherland Book. When the matter was reported to Parliament, it "stood fast to the Earl of Sutherland, as for one who had stuke hard to them, and hade most advanced their affairs in the north of Scotland." In this partisan spirit the Estates, 27th March, 1647, ordered 500 troops under competent officers to be set at the disposal of the Earl of Sutherland, to assist his own Highlanders in bringing Reay to book. With these levies Sutherland advanced to Ben Rosal, on the east border of Strathnaver, where he was met by Reay, and some terms of settlement made.

The following year Lord Reay embarked at Thurso for Denmark, and died at Copenhagen in the spring of 1649. Such was the regard entertained for his Lordship by the King of Denmark, that a frigate was commissioned to carry his body to the Kyle of Tongue, and his remains are entombed in the family vault within the church at Kirkiboll. Of him it may be truly said, here sleeps a battered warrior.

During the time of Donald, 1st Lord Reay, there is some evidence that the people of Strathnaver were growing in culture, rude as it was from our standpoint. More and more of the members of the leading families were learning to write, as their signatures to wadsets, sasines, etc., prove. Many may have learned to write while serving abroad as military officers, and some would certainly return home with a wider knowledge of the world. Religion in these parts owed much to the faithful labours of members of the Munro clan. The first Protestant minister of Farr was Robert Munro, who was translated from Durness after 1624, and was succeeded in Durness by a succession of Munros. In 1638 the Parish of Kintail (now Tongue) was erected,1 but there was a Protestant church there at a much earlier date, served by the minister at Durness, who was practically the chaplain of the Reay family.

Lord Donald was thrice married. [We do not believe that he was married to Mrs. Harrison, and Robert Mackay is certainly mistaken when he says that he was married to Lady Lindsay.] His first wife was Barbara, whom he married in 1610, eldest daughter of Kenneth, 1st Lord Kintail, and sister of Colin and George, 1st and 2nd Earls of Seaforth. She bore him four sons and two daughter : —
i. lye, died 1617.

ii. John, succeeded as 2nd Lord Reay, and of whom follows.

iii. Hew, died unmarried before 1642.

iv. Lieut -Col. Angus, progenitor of the Melness Mackays, of whom see in their genealogy afterwards.

v. Jane, married Wm. Mackay III. of Bighouse, and had issue as given in the genealogy of that family.

vi. Mary, married Sir Roderick Macleod of Talisker, second son of Macleod of Macleod.

Donald married, secondly, in 1632, Elizabeth Thomson, who died about 1637, leaving one daughter : —

vii. Ann, married Alexander, brother of Sir James Macdonakl of Sleat.

Donald married, thirdly, Marjory, daughter of Francis Sinclair of Stirkoke, Caithness, by whom he had three sons and two daughters : —

viii. William, had sas. of the lands of Kinloch, 4th January, 1669, and married Ann, daughter of Col. Hugh Mackay of Scoury, by whom he bad an only son, George. The said George was served heir to his deceased father, William, 24th February, 1710, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Angus IV. of Bighouse. The issue of this last marriage was an only son, Captain William Mackay, who married Jane Mackay of Borgie, and died at Thurso without issue, 1772.

ix. Charles, progenitor of the Sandwood Mackays, of whom see in their genealogy afterwards.

x, Rupert, a twin brother of Charles, who died unmarried.

xi. Margaret, died at Thurso, unmarried, 1720.

xii. Christian, married Alexr. Gunn of Killearnan, chieftain of the MacHamish Gunns, and had issue. pg, 125-143

THE BOOK OF MACKAY BY ANGUS MACKAY, M.A. (St. Andrews University) Minister at Westerdale, Caithness EDINBURGH : NORMAN MACLEOD, -25 GEORGE IV. BRIDGE CANADA : EDWARD MACKAY, ST. PETER'S MANSE, MADOC, ONT. M DCCCC VI

==========================================

Donald Balloch Mackay, progenitor of the Scourie Mackays, who had a charter of the lands of Scourie, hereditarily from his brother Huistean Du, 31 December 1605, and married Euphemia, daughter of Hugh Munro of Assint, brother of Robert Munro of Fowlis, with issue. pg. 165 Scottish Peerage Vol. 7
-

=========================

Until Hugh Mackay's time his predecessors were usually designed " of Strathnaver," which was then understood to comprehend the whole of PiIackay's country; but he was called Hugh Mackay of Far, and his eldest son Donald, while his father lived, called himself " fiar of Strathnaver ;" after that, and until he came to the peerage, "Sir Donald hf achy of Strathnaver," as is evident from documents now in the author's possession. pg. ?

In the end of April 1616, Sir Robert went to London, accompanied by Donald Mackay, whom he introduced to the king, and to Prince Charles, who received him graciously ; and the king then conferred on him the honour of knighthood. He was thenceforward Sir Donald Mackay, until he was created Lord Reay. He was not created baronet until the 18th March 1627 pg. 193

cc In February 1649," says Gordon, "Donald Mackay, Lord Reay, having retired to Denmark, died in that kingdom ; his body was carried back again into Scotland, and buried at Kirkiboll with his predecessors." Not buried, properly speaking, but laid in the family vault, where his large bones are still seen. pg. 326

" He was a man of quick wit, and speedy resolution, and of divers able qualities : but these good parts were suppressed by his evil inclination :--a great dissenbler, and much given to lust." "A great dissembler," he says. The assertion seems, a to be unfounded or exaggerated. He had been so often circumvented, and so much injured by Sir Robert, and through him by this Earl of Sutherland and his father, that he, or any in his circumstances, could not be over-cautious in dealing with them ; and that caution Gordon appears to have mistaken for dissimulation. his high spirit, courage, liberality, and the high esteem in which he was held by kings, nobles, and warriors abroad, and at home too, but for the accidental affair with Hamilton, into which his loyalty led him, seem ta exclude the ideas of his being a dissembler or evil inclined. He was the first who introduced the protestant religion into his country, and by that and other means did much to civilize his people : so that they were nothing behind their neighbours, and before many highland districts. He was too liberal, if not prodigal, which, together with his great losses, and the advantages taken of him by his uncle, mightily curtailed the noble estate his father left him, and greatly burdened the residue. He died in his fifty-ninth year. He was not improperly termed Donald Duughal: for he was indeed a man of troubles. pg. 326

He had five wives;

1st, Lady Barbara Mackenzie, Lord Seaforth's
daughter ; issue by her, four sons, Iye, John his successor, Hugh, and Colonel Angus of Melness; and two daughters, Jane and Mary and Iye died young; Jane married the second William Mackay of Bighouse, and Mary married Sir Robert hlcLeod of Talisker in Sky.

2n Lady Mary Lindsay, daughter of the Earl of Crawford : issue, a son, Donald of Dysart.

3d, Rachel Winterfield: issue, a son, Donald.

4th, Elizabeth Thomson : issue, a daughter, Ann, who married Alexander, brother of Sir James Macdonald of Sleat.

5th, Marjory, daughter of Francis Sinclair of Stircoke  issue, three sons, William of Kinloch, Charles of Sandwood, and his twin brother Rupert who died without issue; and two daughters, Margaret, who died at Thnrso, May 1720, and Christian pg. 329

THE PRINCIPAL FAMILY CONTINUED.
DONALD firs t Lord Reay, had five wives ; 1st the Hon. Barbara Mackenzie, Lord Kentail's daughter : issue four sons,

• Iye, who died young;
• John his successor ;
• Hugh, who died young; and
• Colonel Aeneas Mackay of Melness ; and two daughters,
• Jane and

Some say that Jane married the second William Mackay of Bighouse; but others, with more probability, state that his wife was Jane, daughter of John Mackay of Dilred;

• Mary married Sir Robert Macleod of Talisker in Skye.

2ndly, Lady Mary Lindsay, daughter of the Earl of Crawford : issue, Donald Mackay of Dysart. 3d&, Rachel Winterfield: issue a son,

• Donald.

4thly, Elizabeth Thornson : issue, a daughter,

• Ann, who married Alexander Macdonald, brothergerman of Sir James Macdonald of Sleat. And,

5th&, Marjory, daughter of Fraucis Sinclair of Stircoke : issue three sons,

• Captain William of Kinloch,
• Charles of Sandwood, and his twin brother,
• Rupert, who died without issue ; and two daughtera,
• Margaret, who died at Thurso in 1720, and
• Christian. Pg. 575

HISTORY OF THE HOUSE AND CLAN OF MACKAY

===================

Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay (March 1591 – February 1649), known as Sir Donald Mackay, 1st Baronet, from 1627 to 1628, was a Scottish peer and soldier.

Mackay was the eldest son of Huistean Du. He was created a Baronet, of Strathnaver, in 1627 and the following year he was raised to the Peerage of Scotland as Lord Reay, of Reay in the County of Caithness. He later fought as a Royalist in the Civil War.

Lord Reay was married four times.

He married, firstly, Barbara Mackenzie, sister of Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth, in 1610.

He married, secondly, Rachel Winterfield or Harrison, sometime before 1631. This marriage was annulled.

He married, thirdly, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Thomson, and

fourthly, Marjorie, daughter of Francis Sinclair.

Lord Reay died in February 1649, aged 57, and was succeeded in his titles by his son John

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Mackay,_1st_Lord_Reay

===========================

I. Donald Mackay, who had assisted in executing various commissions of the Privy Council, was knighted in 1616," and thereafter was sometimes styled ' of Farr,' but oftener ' of Strathnaver.' On a warrant, 3 March 1626, from King Charles I., to raise a regiment for service on the Continent, he collected 3600 men before the 15 May, passed over with them to Denmark, and took service under King Christian iv. During the following year he greatly distinguished himself, especially at the Pass of Oldenburg, where his regiment lost heavily, and where he was himself wounded. He was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia 2 November 1628,^ with remainder to heirs-male whatsoever, and a Peer of Scotland by the title of LORD REAY, with remainder to his heirs-male bearing the name and arms of Mackay, on 20 June 1628.

In 1629 he took service under Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and returning home for more troops, rejoined his regiment in 1630, to lead it throughout the campaign that year in Germany with much distinction. When Gustavus fell at the battle of Lutzen (1632) Lord Reay was in Britain raising more troops.

In the struggle between King Charles I. and his subjects Lord Reay took the side of the Royalists," but a ship carrying arms to him was captured by the Covenanters at Peterhead in April 1639. He joined Seaforth in a secret bond of a Royalist character 7 June 1639, and the following year both were warded - at Edinburgh. When hostilities broke out again in 1643 Lord Rear embarked for Denmark/ whence he returned early in 1644 with ships bearing arms and treasure to Newcastle, shortly before it was invested by General Leslie. Along with Lord Crawford and others, he defended Newcastle ' through the siege from February until 14 October, when the town was taken, and Lord Reay sent a prisoner to Edinburgh, where he had been proscribed by the Estates a little earlier.

After the battle of Kilsyth (August 1645) he was released and returned home to Strathnaver, but became embroiled in a conflict with the Earl of Sutherland, who appealed to Parliament. The parlament stood fast ' to the earl of Southerland, as for one who had stuke hard for them, and 500 soldiers were put at the Earl's disposal to deal with Lord Reay. The following year he embarked for Denmark, and died at Bergen in the spring of 1649, whence a frigate carried his body over for burial in the family vault at Tongue. As may be supposed, he died heavily burdened with debt.

He married, first, in August 1610, Barbara, eldest daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie, first Lord Kintail, who
bore him six children :

• 1. lye, died young in 1617.
• 2. John, second Lord Reay.
• 3. Hew, alive in 1637.'
• 4. Angus, a lieutenant-colonel in the service of Denmark," married (contract 1 May 1659) his cousin Catherine, daughter of Alexander Guun of Killearnan, with issue. He was alive 1699, but died before 1703. He became progenitor of the Melness Mackays."
• 5. Jane.
• 6. Mary, married, as his first wife, to Sir Roderick Macleod of Talisker."

He married, secondly, about 1632, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Thomson of Greenwich, Keeper of the Queen's Wardrobe, and by her had, with others, a daughter,

• 7. Ann married to Alexander, brother of Sir James Macdonald of Sleat

He married, thirdly, Marjory, daughter of Francis Sinclair of Stirkoke, with issue :

• 8. William had sasine of the lands of Kinloch 4 January 1669; married Ann," daughter of Colonel Hugh Mackay of Scourie, with issue a son, George.
• 9. Charles, progenitor of the Sandwood Mackays, married Elizabeth, daughter of Captain William Mackay of Borley, and to her gave sasine on disposition in liferent of his lands of Sandwood, etc., 28 May 1679
• 10. Rupert, a twin brother of Charles.
• 11. Margaret, died at Thurso in 1720, unmarried.
• 12. Christina,, married to Alexander Gunn of Killearnan.

A Mrs. Rachel Winterfield or Harrison claimed to be the wife of Lord Reay, and was successful in a suit of maintenance which she brought before the Privy Council in 1637; but Lord Reay maintained that forged documents were used to secure this verdict, and Gordon of Sallachy records that the judges had a personal grudge against him.

He had a natural son by Mary Lindsay, daughter of David, eleventh Earl of Crawford." Complaint was made by his wife to the Privy Council in 1617 as to Lord Reay's ill-treatment of her in connection with his intimacy with Mary Lindsay."

Scottish Peerage Vol 7 pg. 167-169

=====================

[http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/reay1628.htm Cracroft's Peerage] 

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 15 2017, 0:53:09 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 15 2017, 0:56:32 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 15 2017, 1:09:03 UTC

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• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 15 2017, 0:53:09 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 15 2017, 0:56:32 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 15 2017, 1:09:03 UTC
• Sir James Balfour Paul, Editor. The Scots peerage, founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom. Vol. VII. Edinburgh: D Douglas, 1904. Page 169. Archive.Org

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Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay, 14th of Strathnaver (March 1591 – February 1649) was a Scottish soldier and member of Parliament. He played a prominent role in the Thirty Years' War, raising a regiment of 3,000 men, which served in both the Danish and Swedish forces. He was later an unwilling Covenanter. He was the fourteenth chief of Clan Mackay, a Highland Scottish clan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Mackay,_1st_Lord_Reay

Family

Donald Mackay was the eldest son of Huistean Du Mackay, 13th of Strathnaver, and wife Lady Jane Gordon, eldest daughter of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland, and second wife Lady Jean Gordon.[1]

Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay, married firstly, in August 1610, Barbara, daughter of Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Kintail, Chief of Clan Mackenzie and had the following children:[1]

1. Iye Mackay, died 1617.
2. John Mackay, 2nd Lord Reay, 15th of Strathnaver, who succeeded his father.
3. Hew Mackay, died unmarried before 1642.
4. Lieutenant-Colonel Angus Mackay, progenitor of the Mackay of Melness branch of the clan.
5. Jane Mackay, married William Mackay, 3rd of Bighouse.
6. Mary Mackay, married Sir Roderick Macleod of Talisker, second son of Macleod of Macleod, chief of Clan MacLeod.

Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay married secondly in 1631 or before, Elizabeth Thomson, who died in about June 1637, leaving one daughter:

1. Ann Mackay, who married Alexander Macdonald, brother of Sir James Macdonald, Chief of the Clan Macdonald of Sleat.

Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay married thirdly, a daughter of Francis Sinclair of Stirkoke, Caithness and had the following children:

1. William Mackay, who married Ann, daughter of Colonel Hugh Mackay of Scoury.
2. Charles Mackay, progenitor of the Mackay of Sandwood branch of the clan.
3. Rupert Mackay, twin brother of Charles and who died unmarried.
4. Margaret Mackay, who died at Thurso, unmarried in 1720.
5. Christian Mackay, who married Alexander Gunn of Killeranan, chieftain of the MacHamish Gunns of Clan Gunn

Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay also married Rachel Winterfield or Harrison, sometime before 1631, but this marriage was annulled.

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Mackay,_1st_Lord_Reay
   1. Mackay, Angus (1906). The Book of Mackay. pp. 123–143. < Archive.Org >
   2. Mackay, Robert (1829). History of the House and Clan of Mackay. Edinburgh: Andrew Jack & Co. < Archive.Org >
2. Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs).
   1. Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
   2. Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page