Murdo or Murdoch Mackenzie, also known as Murdo McRorie (died 1590) was a Scottish courtier and the builder of

Fairburn Tower Fairburn Tower is a recently resored Scottish castle near Inverness and the Muir of Ord in the parish of Urray. The tower house on a hill above the River Orrin is believed to have been built in 1545 for Murdo Mackenzie. Mackenzie of Fairburn Mu ...

near

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Career

He was a son of Roderick (Rory) Mackenzie of Achilty, and probably a nephew of John Mackenzie of Kintail. His mother is said to have been a daughter of Duncan McWilliam Dow vic Leod. Murdo Mackenzie became a courtier, a groom or valet of the bedchamber for James V of Scotland from 1538. It is said that Murdo was sent to join the royal household after his father, who had been a prisoner on the

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, impressed the king in a wrestling match with an Italian fighter. Murdo was declared legitimate for legal purposes, inheritance and property ownership, in July 1539. Murdo Mackenzie is mentioned several times in the records of the

Scottish Exchequer Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

. He was a companion of the king in 1540 at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

Falkland Palace Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of ...

, and

Dudhope Castle Dudhope Castle is an extended late medieval tower house located on the southern face of Dundee Law in Dundee, Scotland. History Construction and private ownership The castle was originally built in the late 13th century by the Scrymgeour famil ...

. On 30 April 1540 the king's pursemaster John Tennent gave MacKenzie 22 shillings to buy gunpowder in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

for the king's

handguns A handgun is a short-gun barrel, barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also ...

. Mackenzie, and three other grooms of the chamber, Alexander Kemp, Sandy Whitelaw, and Andrew Drummond, were given money for livery clothes in 1540, and their clothing allowance was increased. In June 1542 Mackenzie was given a gift of a "composition" of the lands of Overwood worth £113. Clothes given to Murdo MacKenzie to wear on duty with the king included a

doublet Doublet is a word derived from the Latin ''duplus'', "twofold, twice as much",