MACKYE, John (1707-97), of Palgowan, Kirkcudbright.

One of the group known as the Duke of Argyll’s gang,John Drummond to Ld. Morton, 2 and 4 Dec. 1742, Morton mss, SRO. Mackye voted with the Opposition in all recorded divisions. At the 1747 election he moved to the county where, with the backing of the Duke of Queensberry and Lord Selkirk and, surprisingly, with that of the lord justice clerk, Andrew Fletcher (Lord Milton), he ousted a government candidate, who was supported by Fletcher’s master, the former Lord Ilay, now 3rd Duke of Argyll.Argyll to Pelham, 23, 26 July, 1 Aug. 1747; John Maxwell to Pelham, 4 Aug. 1747, Newcastle (Clumber) mss, Continuing in opposition throughout this Parliament,List of 21 Mar. 1754, ibid. he subsequently attached himself to Lord Bute, to whom he acted as private secretary. He died in October 1797.