 John is said to have been sent to be educated at Court in Edinburgh (pursuant to an Act of 1496, a legal requirement for boys in his station of life).However, the terms of a bond subscribed by him in favour of the Earl of Huntly suggest that he remained illiterate.Mackenzie's uncle, Hector Roy Mackenzie of Gairloch, had been appointed tutor to Mackenzie's brother, Kenneth Mackenzie, 8th of Kintail, and on Kenneth's death was left in possession of the greater part of the clan lands.