38691: Memoirs of Rev Col AJ Mackenzie II: Seventh Son

An extract from the memoirs of AJ Mackenzie, born 1887 at Kinlochresort.

I was my parent’s seventh son. I underline that because it carried a distinction that belongs to my story. When the news of my advent was noised abroad the greatest distinction that could be attributed to me both then and for many years after that, was that I was a seventh son.

The reason for this was that from time immemorial it was believed that the seventh son was naturally endowed with the gift of healing. My qualifications for practising the art of healing were, I imagine, well nigh perfect: for it was another belief that the cycle of seven sons should be followed by the birth of a daughter. My parents’ eight child was in fact a girl. If however a ninth child had followed and been a boy, I should have forfeited my claim to be considered a seventh son, and should have been, according to the tenets of this ancient school, totally disqualified for the art of healing

Not many years were to pass before I was in great demand as a healer. My fame spread far and wide and people came from great distances to have their sores washed by my healing hand. There must have been several hundred of cases treated by me before I finally went down the Glen to seek my fortune in a world that scoffed at such things.

The extraordinary thing was that some remarkable cures were affected. My medical friends, however, dismiss all these claims with one devastating term, "Coincidence". I have, however my own views on that. It is possible that by the peculiar relation in which I stood to the patient, and the mysterious ideas he associated with me I was able to administer something which the professional physician operating with an inexact science either had not discovered, or had not yet acquired the technique of administering it. There was one remarkable feature about the ancient art of healing. It could not be commercialised. By the rules of the school the physician was forbidden to accept a fee.

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