From Cromarty to the newspaper office
Born in Cromarty in 1873, Mackenzie grew up in a family with a strong interest in local history. His older brother William Mackay Mackenzie also became a historical writer. Donald joined the editorial staff of the Glasgow Evening News. In 1903 he moved to Dingwall as owner and editor of The North Star, and in 1910 joined the People’s Journal in Dundee.
His books addressed general readers interested in the ancient world. Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria places narrative episodes within a history of cities and rulers. Indian Myth and Legend identifies the Vedas and epics behind its survey; the colour illustrations are by Warwick Goble. In both books Mackenzie’s editorial choices direct readers from one kind of evidence to another.
Following a shape across a map
The Migration of Symbols, published in 1926, takes the recurrence of a visible form as the beginning of an inquiry into travel and cultural exchange. The individual objects and the historical route he proposes between them are different kinds of evidence. That gap is particularly revealing today. Mackenzie’s confidence in reconstructing migrations from resemblance places the book within a particular period of comparative scholarship.
