A Reluctant Aristocrat
By
Guy Mackenzie
Assorted Memories of My Unconventional Life by Guy Mackenzie. See list of stockists or contact us at: info@mackenzie-glenmuick.org.uk.
Also available from Amazon and eBay.
Reviews of "A Relucant Aristocrat"
Dave Bartram, Showaddywaddy:
Guy's wide-ranging memoirs make for an intriguing and entertaining read. Indeed his much to be admired lust for life serves as a shining example to all would-be adventurers both young and somewhat longer in the tooth.
On a personal note; I can only say how thrilled I am that SHOWADDYWADDY's much cherished 'Blue Moon' guitar remains in safe and trusted hands for the foreseeable future.
Frank Allen, The Searchers:
"I finished your book from end to end and loved it. It made the tube journeys into London and back, on my social evenings, fly by."
May Wootton:
"Thank you for the glowing mention of Supersound – it is very nice to know that all our hard work will not be forgotten."
Mary Wootton (aged 93) who with her husband, Alan, formed Supersound Electronic Products (amps, guitars & basses) in 1952 and ran the Company until 1974!
Gary Davies:
"A most enjoyable & entertaining read that casts a lot more light on the varied life and exploits of the author".
Gary Davies is the author of "Anniversary Strat" www.anniversarystrat.com
Toni Carver:
"A Reluctant Aristocrat: Assorted Memories of my Unconventional Life by Guy Mackenzie is his look through his life which took him though a series of experiences which, extraordinarily could be described as ‘iconic moments’ in the history of his times, and the places."
Toni Carver, St Ives Times & Echo, April 12th, 2024 Full review available to read as a PDF download: St Ives Times & Echo review of A Reluctant Aristocrat (PDF, 13MB)
Some more reader reviews and photos of my book "out in the wild!":
Joan Gracie (widow of Rock n Roll legend, Charlie Gracie) pictured at her home reading my book!
"How wonderful...even Fabulous!"
George Buddy:
One of the highlights of my life was reading your book!' - George Buddy, Milton Keynes.
Bob Haynie, Wa. USA, Book Collector and Reader:
Well, I finally got around to reading your book and have to say I enjoyed it plenty. Whoever told you there were too many exclamation points in the text was, as we say over here, right as rain. Two or three in a text of that length is probably the legal maximum.
Nevertheless, your story is an interesting one, and I didn'’t need exclamation points to show me that. You have certainly cut a wide swath across the landscape with your many endeavors (excuse me: endeavours) and your story was fun, and instructive, to read. I can say this because I have no musical knowledge (drums or guitars), know little of politics at the county or shire level or district, and know even less about real estate and speculation therein - yet I still enjoyed reading about your interests and actions in all of these areas.
That, in sum, is all the writer has a right to expect, and I think you succeeded quite well.
Thanks again for thinking of me and sending a copy (double inscribed) for my collection. I'’ll shelve it with the other notable autobiographies: Ben Franklin, Mahatma Ghandi, U. S. Grant. You'’ll be, once again, in good company.
Leslie Cavendish:
Just finished your book which I really enjoyed. Lots of your stories and places you visited took me back to those times. Besides Kathy Kirby you had a Mr Lennon as a neighbour!
Terry Stamp was a client of mine and the coolest guy around with faded jeans/T-shirt and Black roller! One of his best friend was Vidal Sassoon as both Chelsea supporters.
I took my mother and father to the 555 restaurant and when she arrived she said "why are you bringing me to a place with a plastic table cloth as we might as well gone to the cafe in east street market" in elephant and castle where the family had shoe shops and a market stall where my mum loved to work.
I lived opposite Chelsea register office in Chelsea Manor St and my Beatles financed shop was next door at 161 Kings Rd. Also my first marriage was at the Chelsea register office. My son and his girlfriend also live in Twickenham!
Leslie Cavendish is the auther of: "The Cutting Edge" The Story of The Beatles Hairdresser who Defined an Era: www.beatleshairdresser.com
The Corinthian
The Magazine for Old Stoics
Issue 15, April 2025
Guy Mackenzie, 5th Baronet of Glenmuick, but mostly, just Guy to everyone, has a proud and fascinating heritage, but one he was reluctant to pursue. Not for him the conventional life of a Scottish aristocrat! More a "child of the Swinging Sixties" his diverse life experiences, including near financial collapse, were in: retail, marketing, pro-am car dealing, occasional US singles bars, drumming and rock 'n' roll gigging to finally becoming an avid collector of guitars (an instrument he doesn't play)! An internet blogger, local councillor and property developer in West Cornwall. Not surprisingly, his life has left him with a rich cache of memories which not only provide the reader with amusing and sometimes disturbing anecdotes, but also valuable insights into the decades he has successfully navigated.
There is, of course, a chapter about his time at Stowe and this includes meeting The Beatles and getting their autographs - which he still has.
Faringdon Tower & Blue John Caverns and Mine
Guy tried to buy this folly in 1972. The surveyor's bill for the structural survey and submitting a planning application... just £22!
For the full story see pages 136 and 137 in the book! Faringdon Folly also has a website dedicated to it with lots of useful information about it: www.faringdonfolly.org.uk
And in 1970, Guy visited the "World Famous" Blue John Caverns and Mine. Full story on page 140 of the book!
More from Guy's book...
Should Guy now be the owner of Sandringham? You decide.
On page 11 Guy tells that his great grandfather, James Thompson Mackenzie, lent the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) about £100,000 secured on the deeds of Sandringham.
The loan is well documented (although the amount differs) including by Jane Ridley in her book "Bertie. A Life of Edward VII".
Her book indicates that the loan was repaid (following an email exchange with Guy on 29th September 2017) apparently, initially, relying on a conversation she'd had with Penny Crowe - who had apparently obtained her information from Guy!!
But, in the same email, Jane Ridley did concede "It's not possible to verify this, as there are no accounts of the Prince of Wales's debts"
Just for the record, Guy confirms that the loan was never repaid.
Pages 44, 46 & 47: include the story with pictures of "the English Girl" who Guy met in France in 1964 (Guy briefly became her "Knight in Shining Armour"!).
July 2023 update: by chance her identity can now be revealed - June Kerr of Brockley, London!
Pages 95 & 96 plus 107 & 108: tell the story of Herland Barns & The Small Single Storey Barn where Guy's "longest serving tenant" was single mum Mandy who moved in during the 1990s with young daughter, Charlotte.
July 2023 update: Charlotte Michelson (just 31) and her partner, Nathan, are now fabulously successful business owners of Property, Restaurants!!
Page 32 Guy tells the story of the rather battered Cadillac he bought in the States in 1980.
2024 update: The same car, restored and resprayed red, appeared in a Matthewson's (of TV's "Bangers and Cash") auction where it sold for just £4,200 with a "believed genuine" mileage of 51,200! Ummm.... If only Guy had known!
On page 117 Guy tells the story of the Audit Commission's investigation into the delay of the award of the Kerrier Leisure Contract.
Surely the other "winner" of this debacle was Cllr Rex Sadler who was Chairman of the sub-Committee which kept delaying the award of the Contract!
Surprisingly to Guy and others, Cllr Rex Sadler was awarded an MBE in the 2009 New Year's Honours "For Services to Local Government in Cornwall"!!!
Lost Autograph - Found!
On page 24 it's described how Guy met Sir Alf Ramsey and got his autograph.
Having been lost for many years, Guy recently found Sir Alf's autograph but also the autographs of Maurice Norman (England) and Alan "Goals" Gilzean (Scotland).
However the date was 1968 and Scotland won 1-0! Not 1964 and 3-1 as stated!
Odd Man In...
On page 63/4 Guy describes how he managed to "doorstep" his way into the Unilever trainee management scheme.
In 1976 Guy attended a 2 week residential course for management trainees. The picture is of all the attendees with Guy, seated, centre. Guy, aged 29, was the oldest on the course and the only one who:
1/ Hadn't been to university, 2/ Wasn't involved in fmcg (i.e. fast moving consumer goods) or "above the line" advertising (i.e. TV etc.) and 3/Shock, horror, had progressed via sales into the management trainee scheme!!
Assorted Memories of My Unconventional Life by Guy Mackenzie. See list of stockists or contact us at: info@mackenzie-glenmuick.org.uk.
Also available from Amazon and eBay.
A Reluctant Aristocrat Newsletters
Postscript:
In the quiet of the night I think of Mull
And the days now far away...
And a home that was loving, and warm, and secure
In the house above Calgary Bay.
("Hebridean Childhood" by Lady Fairfax-Lucy)