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War Cry: Tulach Ard (the high hillock)
The MacKenzies were vassals
(and perhaps a branch) of the Earls of Ross, their first Chief,
Kenneth Mor, being traditionally descended from Gilleon na h'Airde
a local 12th century potentate said to have descended from
the ancient royal house of Lorne, forbears likewise of the Celtic Kings
of Moray. By 1267, the founder and name-father of the clan,
Coinneach or Kenneth, literally the Bright One, was already firmly established
in Kintail in his stronghold of Eilean Donan.
The Mackenzies were at this time vassals of the Earls of Ross. Though the
Earl then was no friend of Robert the