Tim's Tales: Roderick Mackenzie and Bonnie Prince Charlie

But his headless body lies in a lonely grave in Glenmoriston in the Highlands, just to the west of Loch Ness, next to a river which was named after him: Caochan a’ Cheannaich, meaning 'the stream of the merchant'.

He was killed there in late July 1746 by Redcoat soldiers, who then joyfully cut off his head, believing it would make them rich.

It’s a beautiful setting for such a grim happening, and Roderick’s grave is almost hidden and rarely visited, except by those who know his story.

Roderick was likely the son of an Edinburgh jeweller and goldsmith named Colin Mackenzie, who lived in Gray’s Close on Edinburgh’s High Street (now called South Gray’s Close).

Initially, Roderick followed his father’s trade by becoming an apprentice jeweller, but that job didn’t seem to satisfy him. And so, according to one account, he became a merchant based at Fisherrow, dealing mainly in timber.

Although he didn’t follow his father’s trade, Roderick did follow his father’s Jacobite politics. As he grew up, his father told him many tales of the 1715 rising and how one day the Stuarts would be restored as they were the rightful monarchs. As a result, Roderick grew up a convinced and passionate Jacobite.

His father seems to have died before Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in 1745, but when word of this reached Edinburgh on August 8, we can imagine Roderick’s excited reaction. He was determined to join the Jacobite army.

The memorial cairn to Roderick Mackenzie (Image: Tim Porteus)

Exactly when and where he did this is not clear, but most accounts say he joined when the Jacobites arrived in Edinburgh, although there is a tradition that he joined earlier.

He became part of Lord Elcho’s Troop of the Prince’s Life Guards; in short, he became a bodyguard for Prince Charles. Roderick looked very similar to Charles, which was immediately noticed by them both and was a source of amusement between them. He could even act as Charles' 'double' if needed.

How I wish that there was a more detailed account of Roderick’s observations and actions during the events which followed. His role as an escort and bodyguard for Charles would have meant he was privy to key moments.

We know Roderick fought at Culloden on April 16, 1746, and witnessed the brutal carnage of that battle first hand. He played a courageous role, helping to defend the retreating Highlanders before he himself fled.

He became a fugitive, like so many other Jacobites. He couldn’t return to his mother and sisters in Edinburgh because this would have put them in mortal danger, and anyway, as an active participant in the rising, he knew a death sentence hung over him.

His only hope was to find a way to escape from the country, perhaps to France. He wasn’t the only one, for the hills and glens were full of fugitive Jacobites, and Charles himself was in hiding, having abandoned his followers.

In late July, the Redcoats got information that Charles was hiding somewhere in Glen Moriston and the area swarmed with soldiers, who raped, murdered and pillaged their way through the glen as they searched for him and any other suspected Jacobite.

Roderick was one of them, hiding in the same glen. It’s not clear if he’d met up with Charles or if he just happened to be in the same area at the same time, but he surely knew his prince was hiding nearby.

A Redcoat patrol spotted Roderick by the river and surrounded him. The soldiers couldn’t believe their luck, for they thought he was Charles and there was a £30,000 bounty for him, dead or alive.

Roderick drew his sword, making it clear he wouldn’t surrender. A volley of musket fire riddled him with bullets. In his last dying moments, he cried out: “You have killed your prince!”

The soldiers must have jumped for joy, believing this was confirmation it was indeed Charles and so they could claim the bounty. They cut off his head and hurried with glee to Fort Augustus, where the army’s commander, 'the Butcher', the Duke of Cumberland, was stationed.

Sure enough, it did look like the head of the Charles, but how to be sure? One of the Jacobite prisoners at the fort was MacDonald of Kingsburgh, who knew Charles, so he was asked to identify the head. But he was deliberately vague.

Cumberland took the head to London, where other Jacobite prisoners could identify it. It began to rot and decompose, but eventually it was realised this wasn’t the head of Charles Stuart after all.

But Roderick’s brave death had given Charles the opportunity to evade capture. The search for him had been called off, or at least slackened in intensity, giving him a chance to slip from the glen and eventually escape on a French ship.

And so that’s the story, at least the bits we know. Roderick died for the cause he passionately believed in, protecting his prince. Whether Charles deserved this loyalty and sacrifice is a matter of opinion. But what is not in doubt is the loyalty and bravery of Roderick Mackenzie.

The memorial cairn to Roderick Mackenzie (Image: Tim Porteus)

So if ever you are travelling through Glen Moriston, look out for the monument on the spot he was killed. Then carefully search on the other side of the road, beyond the trees close to the river, where you will find his grave.

It is said that his headless body was respectfully buried here by the people of Glenmoriston in what is hallowed ground. Every year, in late July, there is a small ceremony organised by the Clan Mackenzie Society to commemorate Roderick, remember his deeds and lay flowers on his grave.

What I cannot tell you is how or when his family heard the news of his death, or if they ever managed to visit his grave. I suspect not.

When I walk up South Gray’s Close, I often pause and think of his mother and sisters, and how they would tell their tale, and when I’m walking our dog at Fisherrow, I think Roderick Mackenzie must have left his footprints in the same sand.