Brahan Seer Stone in Craig Wood (geograph 5898096)

The Brahan Seer, known in his native

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

as Coinneach Odhar ("Dark

Kenneth Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

"), 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 creation of the folklorist Alexander MacKenzie (1838-1898) whose accounts occur well after some of the events the Seer is claimed to have predicted. Others have also questioned whether the Seer existed at all.

Early life

Mackenzie is thought to have come from Uig (Lewis) on lands owned by the Seaforths, and to have been 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. Howev ...

, although both these details are in themselves questioned. He is better known, however, for his connections to Brahan Castle near

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 cas ...

, and the

Black Isle The Black Isle ( gd, an t-Eilean Dubh, ) is a peninsula within Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands. It includes the towns of Cromarty and Fortrose, and the villages of Culbokie, Jemimaville, Rosemarkie, Avoch, Munlochy, Tore, and Nor ...

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 constitue ...

. He is thought to have used an

Adder stone An adder stone is a type of stone, usually glassy, with a naturally occurring hole through it. Such stones, which usually consist of flint, have been discovered by archaeologists in both Britain and Egypt. Commonly, they are found in Northern Germ ...

, a stone with a hole in the middle, to see his visions. The Brahan Seer worked for Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth. As with

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéties'' (published in 1555), a collection o ...

, who wrote in Provençal, most of his prophecies are best known in translation, which can in itself be deceptive. However, there are no contemporary manuscripts or accounts of his predictions, so it is impossible to verify them. He is claimed to have prophesied, or his prophecies have been interpreted as referring to, the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

, the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulte ...

, the building of the

Caledonian Canal The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. Route The canal r ...

, the discovery of

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and ...

, and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

. Having become famous as a diviner and wit, he was invited to Seaforth territory in the east, to work as a labourer at Brahan Castle near

, in what is now the county of

, where he met his downfall.

Death

This move led to an unfortunately unforeseen sequence of events on the Seer's part, leading to his barbaric murder at

Chanonry Point Chanonry Point ( Scottish Gaelic: ''Gob na Cananaich'') lies at the end of Chanonry Ness, a spit of land extending into the Moray Firth between Fortrose and Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, Scotland. Lighthouse An active lighthouse situated at ...

, when he was allegedly burnt in a spiked tar barrel, on the command of the Earl's wife, Lady Seaforth. The simple prediction that led to his downfall – that the absent

Earl of Seaforth Earl of Seaforth was a title in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland. It was held by the family of Mackenzie from 1623 to 1716, and again from 1771 to 1781. History The Mackenzies trace their descent to Colin of Kintail (died 1278) ...

was having sexual adventures with one or more women in Paris – seems likely, but of course was highly outrageous to Lady Seaforth, as it cast her husband in a scandalous light and heaped embarrassment on her.

Historical evidence

There is no historical evidence that a prophet known as "Kenneth Mackenzie" existed. For example, it is alleged that Mackenzie was born on the Isle of Lewis during the early 1600s but no historical documentation or records demonstrate this. Historian William Matheson has argued that Alexander Mackenzie's statements about Coinneach Odhar living in the 17th century were inaccurate. There are two records for a Coinneach Odhar, a sixteenth century man who was accused of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

. For example, there is a Scottish Parliament record, dated 1577, for a

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

of his arrest. Such details contradict the statements of Mackenzie and those passed down through folklore."Brahan Seer"
. Scottish Archive Network Knowledge Base.

References

Bibliography

* Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson. (1989). ''The Seer in Celtic and Other Traditions''. John Donald Publishers. * John Keay, Julia Keay. (2000). ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland''. HarperCollins. * Alexander Mackenzie. (1899)
''The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer''
Inverness. * Alex Sutherland. (2009). ''The Brahan Seer: The Making of a Legend''. Verlag Peter Lang.
thesis version online
* Elizabeth Sutherland. (1985). ''Ravens & Black Rain: The Story of Highland Second Sight, Including a New Collection of the Prophecies of the Brahan Seer''. Constable. * Elizabeth Sutherland. (1996). ''The Seer of Kintail''. Constable & Robinson.

External links

* {{Gutenberg author, id=49441
''Memoirs of the life of Sir Humphry Davy'', (1836) Volume II, P72
by John Davy
''Memoirs of the life of Sir Walter Scott'', bart., (1837) Vol III, PP 232-3
by

John Gibson Lockhart John Gibson Lockhart (12 June 1794 – 25 November 1854) was a Scottish writer and editor. He is best known as the author of the seminal, and much-admired, seven-volume biography of his father-in-law Sir Walter Scott: ''Memoirs of the Life of Sir ...