Kenneth Mackenzie or "Coinneach Oig", traditionally reckoned 8th of Kintail

Kintail

Kintail is an area of mountains in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It consists of the mountains to the north of Glen Shiel and the A87 road between the heads of Loch Duich and Loch Cluanie; its boundaries, other than Glen Shiel, are generally taken to be the valleys of Strath Croe and Gleann...

, was a Highland

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

 chief, being head of the Clan Mackenzie

Clan MacKenzie

Clan Mackenzie is a Highland Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire.-Origins:The Mackenzies, a powerful clan of Celtic stock, were not among the clans that originated from Norman ancestry. Descendants of the long defunct royal Cenél Loairn of Dál Riata, they...

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Origins

Kenneth was the eldest son of Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail

Kenneth Mackenzie, 7th of Kintail

Kenneth Mackenzie , traditionally reckoned 7th of Kintail and nicknamed Coinneach a'bhlair , was a Highland chief, being head of the Clan Mackenzie.-Origins:...

 (d.1492) and Margaret, daughter of John of Islay, Earl of Ross

John of Islay, Earl of Ross

John of Islay was a late medieval Scottish magnate. He was Earl of Ross and last Lord of the Isles as well as being Mac Domhnaill, chief of Clan Donald....

. Although traditionally identified as the 8th chief of the Kintail line, he was in fact only the third (after his father) of whom incontrovertible contemporary evidence survives. The Mackenzies' origins lay in the Northwest Highlands

Northwest Highlands

The Northwest Highlands are the northern third of Scotland that is separated from the Grampian Mountains by the Great Glen . The region comprises , Assynt, Caithness and Sutherland. The Caledonian Canal, which extends from Loch Linnhe in the west, via Loch Ness to the Moray Firth in the north...

, but the centre of their power had by the end of the 15th century shifted to Easter Ross

Easter Ross

Easter Ross is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland.The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituency and a Scottish Parliament constituency...

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Career

Kenneth appears never to have been served heir to his father. He is said, together with Farquhar Mackintosh of Mackintosh

Clan MacKintosh

Clan Mackintosh is a Scottish clan from Inverness with strong Jacobite ties. The Mackintoshes were also chiefs of the Chattan Confederation.-Origins:...

, to have been made a hostage in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 by James IV

James IV of Scotland

James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...

, but to have escaped from the custody of the Crown. Not long afterwards, while at Torwood

Torwood

Torwood is a small village located north-northwest of Larbert, north-west of Falkirk and south-southeast of Stirling. Torwood lies within the Falkirk Council area of Scotland....

 in Stirlingshire

Stirlingshire

Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a registration county of Scotland, based around Stirling, the former county town. It borders Perthshire to the north, Clackmannanshire and West Lothian to the east, Lanarkshire to the south, and Dunbartonshire to the south-west.Until 1975 it was a county...

 with Mackintosh, he was attacked and killed by the Laird of Buchanan

Clan Buchanan

Clan Buchanan is an Armigerous Scottish clan whose origins are said to lie in the 1225 grant of lands on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond to clergyman Sir Absalon of Buchanan by the Earl of Lennox.-Origins:...

. Mackintosh escaped death, but was imprisoned for many years, and Buchanan (an outlaw) was thereby returned to royal favour.

Kenneth left no legitimate issue and was succeeded by his half-brother, John Mackenzie, 9th of Kintail

John Mackenzie, 9th of Kintail

John Mackenzie , or "John of Killin", traditionally reckoned 9th of Kintail, was a Highland chief, being head of the Clan Mackenzie.-Origins and education:...

, who faced a fierce challenge for his inheritance from their uncle, Hector Roy Mackenzie

Hector Roy Mackenzie

Hector Roy Mackenzie of Gairloch was a prominent member of the Mackenzie clan, who acquired vast estates in and around Gairloch as a result of his services to the Scottish crown and challenged his nephew for the chiefship of the clan.-Origins:...

 of Gairloch

Gairloch

Gairloch is a village, civil parish and community on the shores of Loch Gairloch on the northwest coast of Scotland. A popular tourist destination in the summer months, Gairloch has a golf course, a small museum, several hotels, a community centre, a leisure centre with sports facilities, a local...

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