Compton Mackenzie

Sir (Edward Montague) Compton Mackenzie, (1883–1972), was an Scottish novelist. He wrote the novels The Passionate Elopement in 1911, Carnival in 1912, Sinister Street in 1913/1914, Extremes Meet in 1928, Whisky Galore in 1947, Rockets Galore in 1957 and autobiography My Life and Times between 1963 and 1971.

Related Topics:
1883 - 1972 - Scottish - Novelist - The Passionate Elopement - 1911 - Carnival - 1912 - 1913 - 1914 - Extremes Meet - 1928 - Whisky Galore - 1947 - Rockets Galore - 1957 - My Life and Times - 1963 - 1971

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Although not born in Scotland, MacKenzie went to great lengths to retrace the steps of his ancestors back to his spiritual home in the Highlands, and displayed a deep and tenacious attachment to Gaelic culture throughout his long and very colourful life. As his biographer Andro Linklater commented in the programme,

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"MacKenzie wasn't born a Scot, and he didn't sound like a Scot. But nevertheless his imagination was truly Scottish."

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He served with British Intelligence during World War One. He was Tenant of Herm 1920–1923 and he shares many similarities to the central character in D. H. Lawrence's short story The Man who Loved Islands despite Lawrence saying 'the man is no more he then I am'. Mackenzie at first asked Secker, who published both authors, not to print the story and it was left out of one collection.

Related Topics:
British Intelligence - World War One - Tenant - Herm - 1920 - 1923 - D. H. Lawrence - Secker

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Best known perhaps for his Hebridean comedies "Whisky Galore" and "Monarch of the Glen", Sir Compton MacKenzie published almost a hundred books on different subjects, including ten volumes of autobiography. Of his fiction, "The Four Winds Of Love" is considered to be his magnum opus. It is described by interviewee Dr John MacInnes, (formerly of The School of Scottish Studies), as "one of the greatest works of English literature produced in the twentieth century."

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Mackenzie was married three times and aside from his writing also worked as an actor, political activist, and broadcaster.

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A co-founder of the Scottish National Party, Mackenzie built a house on the Isle of Barra in Scotland in the 1930s, just one of the islands in Europe where he established a temporary residence. It was on Barra that he gained much inspiration and creative solitude, and where he befriended a great number of people in the community he described as "the aristocrats of democracy". One such friend was John MacPherson, known as "The Coddy". MacPherson's son Neil also took part in the programme, recalling MacKenzie as a man of huge imagination, generosity and talent.

Related Topics:
Scottish National Party - Barra

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Such was Sir Compton MacKenzie's love of the Scottish Highlands that he is buried in Barra, where he is still very fondly remembered.

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