Scottish genealogist Rhoda MacLeod from Inverness, Scotland, also found recently only one Alexander MacKay in the Presbyterian Registers of Inverness from the period 1717-1762 with parents named William MacKay and Margaret Fraser.  She found no other siblings in Inverness which leads me to believe Alexander MacKay might have been an only child.  She did find another William MacKay and Margaret Fraser with children however the dates were far too removed to be his parents.  Although not conclusive, I believe William MacKay to be the son of James McCay and Margaret Watt of Inverness and Margaret Fraser to be the daughter of Duncan Fraser and Katrin Fraser of Inverness.   The MacKays claim descent from the Royal House of Moray through the line of Morgund of Pluscarden from whom King MacBeath of Scotland descended.  As was noted by Dr. Gary McKay from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, if your are a MacKay then you are related to King Niall of Ireland, and practically every Scottish King of Scotland.1723

“The origin of the McCaie Family of New Brunswick, Canada, actually begins in Scotland, with the birth of Alexander MacKay , born and baptized at home, a Presbyterian, on the 08th of September of 1724, in the Castlehill area of the town of Inverness, Inverness-shire, the son of William MacKay and Margaret Fraser.

Alexander MacKay arrived in Canada in 1757, at the port of Halifax, in Nova Scotia, on the naval ship the "Martello", as a soldier with the 2nd Highland Battalion of Foot later known as the Fraser Highlanders 78th Regiment. The 1542 men of the Fraser Highlanders were recruited in Inverness by Colonel Simon Fraser in order to help the English during the Seven Years War . Among one of their victories was the famous "Battle of the Plains of Abraham" outside the walls of Quebec City in 1759. Sergeant Alexander MacKay was honorably discharged of his military duties in October of 1763. He settled at first, by himself, in Berthier , Montmagny County, Quebec, and afterwards, following his wedding, in Quebec City, Quebec. A miller by trade in Scotland, he was a naval pilot during the War later becoming a merchant in Canada.

Alexander MacKay married Angelique Demolier the daughter of shoemaker Joachim Demolier and Marie-Joseph Auger , on the 30th of April of 1772, in the Metropolitan Anglican Church of Quebec City . They had three children, all baptized Catholic, at Notre-Dame de Quebec in Quebec City. Their first son Jean MacKay was born on the 25th of December of 1772 and he died on the 06th of August of 1773, in Quebec City. Their second son Alexandre MacKay was born on the 28th of May of 1775 and he died on the 14th of March of 1857, in New Carlisle, Quebec, Canada. Their last child, a daughter by the name of Marie-Angelique MacKay, was born on the 08th of February of 1777. She is presumed to have died sometimes after 1825, in New Carlisle, Quebec, Canada.

Alexander MacKay died around 1780. He was buried in the St. Matthew's Protestant Cemetery in Quebec City. Angelique Demolier was remarried on the 05th of November of 1782, in a Catholic ceremony at Notre-Dame de Quebec, to widower Rene McDonell . Rene McDonell was also a former Fraser Highlander who, ironically, had been best man at Alexander MacKay's wedding. Sometimes after 1784, Rene McDonell along with his daughter Marguerite McDonell, his wife Angelique Demolier, her two children, and her parents, resettled in the New Carlisle area of Quebec. Ronald McDonell died on the 29th of August of 1809 while Angelique Demolier died on the 29th of September of 1815. She was buried with Rene McDonell in the Bonaventure Catholic Cemetery, in Bonaventure, Quebec, Canada.

Her son, Alexandre MacKay , became a successful owner and operator of a very large farm in New Carlisle. He married Rose LePage the daughter of "Justice of the Peace" Jean-Baptiste-Michel LePage and Rose Arsenault , on the 30th of April of 1810, in the Bonaventure Catholic Church, in Bonaventure, Quebec. Alexandre MacKay had the following children: Angelique , Marie-Rose , Jean-Baptiste , Marie-Anne , Henriette , Alexis , Rebecca , and Elisabeth . Rose LePage died on the 12th of March of 1826.

The following year after the death of Rose LePage, Alexandre MacKay was remarried on the 07th of August of 1827, presumably at the New Carlisle Courthouse, to Anne Lane the widow of Hector Morrison . There were no children from this union. Anne Lane became the stepmother for all of Alexandre's children. Years later, upon her death, Anne Lane was buried with her first husband Hector Morrison in the Anglican Cemetery of New Carlisle. Alexandre MacKay died on the the 14th of March of 1857. He was buried on the 23rd of March of 1857, with his first wife Rose LePage, in the Bonaventure Catholic Cemetery, in Bonaventure, Quebec, Canada.

Years earlier, when Jean-Baptiste MacKay had reached the age of 16, he decided to go work on large ships in the harbor at Quebec City. His father would have preferred he stay in New Carlisle to help him out on their large farm; however, Jean-Baptiste MacKay was determined to have his own way and left. Several years later in Quebec City, he liberated a fellow co-worker by the name of William Maranda who apparently had been quarantined aboard a cargo ship by mistake during a cholera epidemic. Both of them fled in a hurry to escape justice hopping a ship on route to Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada.

Once in Miramichi, they found a small row boat and headed for Richibucto-Village, New Brunswick, arriving during the summer of 1833. Jean-Baptiste MacKay had on several occasions heard his grandmother Rose Arsenault talk about the family of her second cousin from Bonaventure, the said Pierre Arsenault, who was one of Richibucto-Village's pioneer settler.

Jean-Baptiste MacKay married Catherine Maillet the daughter of the town blacksmith Augustin Maillet and Barbe Despres , on the 14th of April of 1834, in the Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Roman Catholic Church of Richibucto-Village, in Richibucto-Village, New Brunswick, Canada. Jean-Baptiste MacKay was also a blacksmith and a farmer. He had eleven children: Augustin , Jean-Baptiste , Frederic , Marie , Pierre , Stillborn twin , Marguerite , Henriette , Catherine , Rose , and Francois-Xavier . Their house was located near the Catholic Church.

The MacKays were a well respected family in Richibucto-Village. Many of their descendants can be found today living in Canada and the United States. The spelling of the family name has changed several times throughout the years from MacKay to McKay, Macaille, Mecaille, McCaille, being shortened to "McCaie" in 1887.1723

Reg. J. McCaie , Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, 15 January 2015.