Posted by Private Davey Gunn, 77th Regt. of Foote, Gren. Co. on October 16, 2000 at 21:16:50:
It is with a Heavy Heart that i must take quill in hand, but this Deed must be Done. The 77th Regiment of Foote has lost a Brave Young Lad. We were both laid out on the cold ground to Die, but i have survived; the pain from my wounds has subsided. For John MacKay, it was not meant to be.
Private Morrison has requested i make a written Record of the Lad's Life, as he is in a deeply Sorrowful State. Morrison and MacKay were as brothers, knowing one another from Youth. These details have only come to be known to me this day from Pvt. Morrison. Since he is like a Son to me, i now write the Story of his Friend MacKay.
Freedom is never Free
John Stewart MacKay was borne October 16, 1741 in a cold stone cottage in Northern Scotland. His mother, borne Mary Stewart, was a weaver and took in washing to supplement her meager income. His father, Bruce, was a farmer.
Bruce MacKay joined the Jacobite Rebellion, and on April 16, 1746 found himself on the wrong side of Culloden Moor. He never returned home to his wife and son. He gave his life to the Stewart Cause. John MacKay was five years old.
Freedom is never Free
Mary Stewart MacKay continued her life as a weaver and laundress. She lost the house and small parcel of land given to her husband as a dowry to the tax collector. Mary and son John then lived with her two bachelor brothers, her only living relation; until the winter of 1750, when she died of the fever. John MacKay was nine years old.
Freedom is never Free
John remained with his uncles, George and Elmer Stewart. He was forced to make his bed in the stables, doing all the chores in payment for his room and board. He ran away often only to be caught, returned, and beaten. In the winter of 1755 his uncles moved to Wales and abandoned John to fend for himself. John MacKay was then fourteen.
Freedom is never Free
Remembering his mother's stories of his father and the Jacobites, John sought out two brothers of the Clann Gunn in Caithness. In the summer of 1756 Malcolm MacWilliam and Davey Gunn sponsored John's enlistment into the 77th Regiment of Foote. 1757 found John and his Regiment in the Bahamian Islands fighting black natives, scurvy, mosquitoes, hunger, and oppressive heat. The Regiment then landed in Amerika to fight the red natives of Georgia and the Carolinas. Again they endured the heat, sickness, and lack of provisions.
Freedom is never Free
During his fifteenth year John attained the height of six feet and one inch and acquired the name "wee John" from his comrades. He was here in Amerika with the dream of being in a new and bountiful land, where he could one day have his own farm, as his father and mother had so many years before. Starting his life with a newfound future, leaving his hard-fought youth behind, becoming a man on the frontier of a new world. John MacKay was now sixteen years old.
Freedom is never Free
Spending the last few months with Angus MacWilliam and his flock of sheep had been the best time of his life. He had been free to wander the forest of Penn's Woods with the most knowledgable teacher he had ever known. He had learned more in the last four months than he ever imagined possible. He was truly happy in this new place.
Freedom is never Free
John Stewart MacKay died October 16, 1758 on the banks of the Loyalhanna Creek. His friends called him "wee John"; the same as his mother before he could walk. He was seventeen the day he died. He is now Free. Free of oppression; free of hunger; free of sickness; free of pain; free of want; free of need.
God Bless "wee John" MacKay