When Alexander Campbell Mackenzie was born in Edinburgh in 1847, there had been music on the male side of the family for at least two generations. Grandfather John (1797-1852) had been a violinist, as was his son Alexander (1819-1857). Alexander senior had studied in London and Dresden and reached a good professional standard. He was also a composer – his works include an operetta – and a prolific arranger of Scots folk tunes. Mackenzie’s mother, Jessie Campbell, came from a family of tradesmen. They did not look kindly upon Jessie’s marriage to a musician. Perhaps Alexander senior hoped to placate them by adding the Campbell name to his own when naming his first child. Alexander junior was the first of six children – his sister Isabella was the mother of the celebrated novelist Rebecca West