The Legendary Brahan Seer

Kenneth Mackenzie, otherwise known as the Brahan Seer, was a famous character from the 17th Century whose very existence treads the line between truth and legend. He supposedly worked as a labourer on the Earl of Seaforth’s estates around Brahan Castle and the Black Isle, gaining a reputation for his wild yet accurate prophecies.

Mackenzie’s ability came from looking through a pebble with a hole in the middle known as a hagstone, which gave him Second Sight. His visions were explained in the form of riddles, some that have come to pass and others that may still be waiting to unfold. He announced that ships would sail around the back of Tomnahurich Hill, predicting the Caledonian Canal. Another prophecy foretold that clans would flee before an army of sheep, a distant warning of the Highland Clearances.

Some visions such as the future of Fairburn Tower were much more literal. Kenneth claimed that the day would come when the Mackenzies of Fairburn would disappear, their tower fall to ruin and a cow give birth in the uppermost chamber. Long after the Seer had died, Fairburn Tower was abandoned and a farmer used it to store hay. One of his pregnant cows followed her stomach and found her way into the uppermost chamber where she couldn’t be moved safely until after giving birth.

Sadly for Kenneth, his gift would be his downfall. While the Earl of Seaforth was on a trip to France, his wife begged the Brahan Seer to tell her if he was up to mischief. Reluctantly, he admitted that the earl was entertaining a mistress who was fairer than herself. Without her husband there to berate, the countess took her anger out on the messenger and had him executed for witchcraft at a spot now marked at Chanonry Point.