During the famine of
1836-37 he sent cargoes of meal and seed potatoes to the Gairloch
tenantry, which, with some heavy bill transactions he had entered
into to aid an old friend, William Grant of Redcastle, at the time
carrying on the Haugh Brewery, Inverness, involved him in financial
difficulties. This induced him, in 1841, to get his brother, Dr
John Mackenzie of Eileanach, to take charge of his affairs, going
himself along with his second wife for a few years to Brittany,
where his youngest son, Osgood Hanbury Mackenzie, now of Inverewe,
was born. To get clear of the liability incurred with Grant, Dr
John had ultimately to pay down L7000.
In 1836 Sir Francis published a work on agriculture, entitled
"Hints for the use of Highland Tenants and Cottagers," extending
to 273 pages, with English and Gaelic on opposite pages, which
shows his intimate knowledge of the subject, as well as the
great interest which he took in the welfare of his tenantry - for
whose special benefit the book was written. It deals first,
with the proper kind of food and how to cook it; with diseases
and medicine, clothing, houses, furniture, boats, fishing and
agricultural implements; cattle, horses, pigs, and their diseases;
gardens, seeds, fruits, vegetables, education, morals, etc.
Pages:
688
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