Brahan Castle was situated south-west of

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cast ...

, in

Easter Ross Easter Ross ( gd, Ros an Ear) is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland. The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituenc ...

Highland Scotland The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period ...

. The castle belonged to the Earls of Seaforth, chiefs of the

Clan Mackenzie Clan Mackenzie ( gd, Clann Choinnich ) is a Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestors of the Mackenzie chiefs to the 12th century. However ...

, who dominated the area.

History

Brahan Castle was built by

Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth (1596/97–1633), was a Highland clan chief and Scottish nobleman, possessed of vast estates and wealth. Origins Mackenzie, nicknamed "Ruadh" (i.e. "Red"), was the eldest son of Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st ...

in 1611. Kenneth Mackenzie, a labourer on the estate, was a reputed seer who made a number of

prophecies In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...

in the later 17th century. He is remembered as the

Brahan Seer The Brahan Seer, known in his native Scottish Gaelic as Coinneach Odhar ("Dark Kenneth"), and Kenneth Mackenzie, was, according to legend, a predictor of the future who lived in the 17th century. The Brahan Seer is regarded by some to be the cre ...

. The Mackenzies were prominent

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

, and took part in the

Jacobite risings , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

of 1715, 1719 and 1745. The Siege of Brahan took place in November 1715.

William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth (died 1740), and 2nd titular Marquess of Seaforth (in the Jacobite Peerage), also known as Uilleam Dubh, or Black William, was a Scottish peer and head of Clan Mackenzie. Educated in France and brought up ...

, was

attaint A writ of attaint is an obsolete writ in English law, issued to inquire whether a jury had given a false verdict in a trial. In criminal cases, the writ of attaint was issued at the suit of the Crown, and in civil cases at the suit of either par ...

ed, forfeiting the estate, which in 1725 became the headquarters of

General Wade Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Alliance before leading the construction of barra ...

during his "pacification" of the Highlands. After the later Jacobite rising of 1745, the Mackenzies were the first clan to surrender, being forced to swear allegiance to the British Crown on the steps of the castle. The estate was later sold back to the Mackenzie family, although the direct line of descent died out in 1781. The estate passed to

Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth Lieutenant-General Francis Humberston Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, (9 June 1754 – 11 January 1815) was a British politician, soldier, and botanist. He was Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie, as which he raised the renowned 78th (Highla ...

who carried out tree planting in the grounds. On his death in 1815, Brahan passed to the baron's eldest daughter

Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie (27 March 1783 – 28 November 1862) was the eldest daughter and heiress of Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth. Also known as "Lady Hood Mackenzie", or by the sobriquet "The Hooded Lassie", she was married i ...

who married James Alexander Stewart of

Glasserton Glasserton is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is on the Machars peninsula, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is about in length, varying in breadth from , and contains . The Parish It is th ...

in 1817. During the first half of the 19th century, the castle was rebuilt and extended as a large

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

. James Stewart-Mackenzie was created

Baron Seaforth Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

in 1921, but on his death without heir in 1923, he left the estate to a trust. Brahan Castle was briefly requisitioned during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and after the war its condition deteriorated. In the early 1950s the building was demolished, leaving only the north wall of the 19th century building, which served as a garden ornament. The stable block survives, and is now known as Brahan House. Several heraldic panels and other decorative stones are preserved in the house. A monument on the estate, around west of the site of the castle, commemorates the death in 1823 of Caroline Mackenzie, daughter of the last earl, who died after being thrown from a pony carriage near the same location.

References

{{coord, 57, 33, 25, N, 4, 29, 21, W, region:GB, display=title Castles in Highland (council area) Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Former castles in Scotland Clan Mackenzie Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Ross and Cromarty Buildings and structures completed in 1611 17th-century architecture in the United Kingdom