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Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay

Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay (March 1591-February 1649) was a Scottish soldier, MP, and colonel of MacKay's Regiment of Foote during the Thirty Years' War.

Biography[]

Donald Mackay was born in 1591, teh eldest son of Huistean Du Mackay, 13th of Strathnaver. He served under his uncle Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet during his war against Allan Cameron of Lochiel, Chief of Clan Cameron, in 1613 before being knighted by King James I of England in London in 1616 and appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1623. In 1626, he raised 3,000 soldiers to fight for Denmark during the Thirty Years' War, and he was ennoibled as Lord Reay in 1628. He participated in the capture of Stettin and Colberg in 1630, and, in 1631, King Charles I of England empowered Mackay to raise another force to fight for Sweden. He was not repaid large sums of money owed to him by King Gustavus Adolphus after the king's death at the Battle of Lutzen in 1632, and he returned home in 1638 and signed the Covenant despite his longtime attachment to King Charles. In 1644, he sided with King Charles in the English Civil War, helping defend Newcastle from a Covenanter siege. He was imprisoned until the Royalist victory at the Battle of Kilsyth in 1645, after which he returned home. In 1649, he went into exile in Denmark after the King's execution, and he died a month later.

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