George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh

Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh (1636 – May 8, 1691) was a Scottish lawyer, Lord Advocate, essayist and legal writer.

[3] Mackenzie was elected to the Faculty of Advocates in 1659, and spoke in defence at the trial of Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll in 1661.

[5] As Lord Advocate he was the minister responsible for the persecuting policy of Charles II in Scotland against the Presbyterian Covenanters.

[10] Mackenzie resigned for a short time in 1686, before taking up office again in 1688[5] and serving as shire commissioner for Forfarshire from 1688 to his death.

In London on 9 March 1690 he dined with William Lloyd and John Evelyn, two literary opponents from the past.

[22] In the aftermath of the Rye House Plot Charles II authorised the use of torture against William Spence, secretary to Archibald, Earl of Agyll, who was moved to Scotland.

[23] Mackenzie visited William Carstares in prison in London, caught up in the same investigation, to warn him of the consequences of stubborn behaviour under questioning.

[26] George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh features as a character in John Galt's novel Ringan Gilhaize, or The Covenanters (1823).