Fife and Scotland - the offbeat perspective

Throughout centuries and amid many races, there have been a small number of people allegedly gifted with an ablity to see into the future. Mother Shipton of Northern England and Nostradamus of France are perhaps the best known in the United Kingdom; but there is another of Scottish heritage and whose predictions were more direct and far less hidden or cloaked in secrecy. Indeed, it might be argued that if the Brahan Seer had been more secretive or else discreet then his life might not have ended by being murdered in the most vile fashion; that of being boiled in burning tar!

The murder took place on the orders of Clan MacKenzie and whose Chief took great exception to predictions concerning the downfall and doom of his noble family and where the last male heir of the line would be deaf. In the 19th century this came true, as the last of the Seaforth-Mackenzies lost his hearing during his youth.

On receiving this prediction, the Cheif of Clan McKenzie ordered that Kenneth MacKenzie, also known as Coinneach Odhar or the Brahan Seer, be treated as a sorcerer in league with the devil!

In hindsight, it is natural to make comparisons with Nostradamus and whose connections within the French Royal Court not only ensured notoriety but also presented a threat of religious persecution hence good reasons why he may have chosen to write his predictions in carefully crafted worded quatrains. By contrast, there are far less written words about Coinneach Odhar and no royal connection hence the predictions are more open and direct than any written by Nostradamus. Indeed, it might even be argued that this lack of documentry evidence might suggest that Coinneach Odhar never existed at all but the weight of hearsay and the bizarre nature of some predictions that were fulfilled suggests otherwise. Unlike Nostadamus then, many of predictions attributed to the Brahan Seer are straightforward and literal, instead of being cloaked in word games and riddle. Some are specific to the point of great detail and involving place names.

Unlike Nostradamus, none of his predictions are about geopolitics, global war, or the distant future. His predictions are more local, about Scotland, and even more specifically about the area of the Brahan estate and lands near Inverness.

At the time, some of the predictions must have seemed bizarre as to the point of improbability. and yet allegedly came to pass albeit in equally bizarre circumstances in some cases. Predictions of "a chariot without horse or bridle", and "fiery chariot[s]" might be interpreted as a premonition of railroads or automobiles. A prediction of "hills strewn with ribbons" might have been reference to power lines. If you had never seen them before and didn't know what they were; how might you have described them? Given the kind of celebrity status awarded to him, some predictions make sense as a seat at the table of any local nobility would demand that predictions centred on what nobles wanted to hear but often got more than they had anticpated.

Tradition puts his birthdate sometime in the early 17th century in Uig on the island of Lewis, the northernmost island of the Outer Hebrides. He was blind in one eye and various stories about how he came to recognise his talent surround his use of a small circular stone that, when raised over his blind eye, enabled him to see into the future. From what little is known of the man, it appears that he worked as a farm labourer circa 1675 and lived close to Loch Ussie on the Brahan Estate.

As already stated, some of the predictions would have seemed like bizarre nonsence in the seventeenth century but some of the most amazing ones seem to have been fulfilled.

"Oh! Drumossie, thy bleak moor shall, ere many generations have passed away, be stained with the best blood of the Highlands. Glad I am that I shall not see that day, for it will be a fearful period: heads will be lopped off by the score and no mercy will be shown or quarter given on either side."

This is quite a specific prediction in which the place name 'Drumossie' is given and refers to a spot near Inverness now better known as Culloden and where, more than a century after the prediction was made, English soldiers under command of the Duke of Cumberland, met in a final battle with the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and where, as predicted, no quarter was sought or given. It remains as the last major battle ever fought on British soil and it's particularly notable that Hanovarian troops walked over the battlefield afterwards slaughtering the dying and wounded Jacobites and engaged in multilation of the bodies. Frankly, it's hard to attribute such an event to sheer guess work since the place name is quite specific and where the battle could have taken place almost anywhere else.

"The day will come when the MacKenzies of Fairburn shall lose their entire possessions; their castle will become uninhabited and a cow shall give birth in the uppermost chamber of the tower."

Fairburn Tower stands high on a ridge between the Orrin and Conon river valleys and dates from the 16th century. Once again, this is an incredibly specific reference to a place and where, upon announcement, it must have seemed highly unlikely that a cow would enter the building unless served on a platter, let alone give birth within its walls! In 1851, however, the castle had indeed become an uninhabited ruin and where a local farmer was using the struture to store hay. Perhaps following the scent of the hay, a cow entered the building and, although cows can climb steps, they're not so good at getting back down them! The cow thus became trapped in the garret and calved while stuck inside the building. Both were safely led out of the tower some five days later and amid sightseers who had travelled from afar to see the miraculous event for themselves. Some had even travelled by rail to Strathpeffer or Muir of Ord and then by coach.

"When five spires should rise in Strathpeffer, ships will sail over the village and anchor to them."

Once again, this is an apparently astonishing prediction and which initially suggests the town of Strathpeffer would become submerged at some time in the future. In the 1850s, it was proposed that a new Episcopal church should be built but a petition against the proposal was raised since there were already four spires in the town and, knowing of the prediction, residents feared such a calamity might come to pass. The notion was dismissed, however, and St Anne's church was erected complete with a spire.

Shortly after the conclusion of World War One, a small airship appeared during the Strathpeffer Highland Games and where it dropped a grapnel which became entangled in one of the spires and thus effectively anchored the airship to the building. Is this prediction an incredible coincidence? How would somebody from the seventeenth century describe an airship?

"A black rain will bring riches to Aberdeen."

During the lifetime of the Brahan Seer, Aberdeen was a small yet thriving fishing port and where any thoughts of oil or natural gas lay far in the future. In more recent times, oil and gas related industries have far outstripped the traditional prosperity of the fishing industry in Aberdeen.

"the time will come when full-rigged ships will be seen sailing eastwards and westwards by the back of Tomnahurich near Inverness"

Throughout the World, there have been many places where the notion of linking lakes together by canals could provide an effective means of transport. In 1803, during the Napoleonic War, the Royal Navy sought to have quicker and safe passage from either side of Scotland without enduring the former voyages around the most northerly coasts of Scotland. Plans for the Caledonion canal were drawn up by Thomas Telford and construction commenced in 1803 but was not completed until 1822 and long after the war was over. It seems the Brahan Seer may have been indirectly describing this construction about three hundred years before the event.

On the face of it, this is one prediction where one could look at a map of Scotland and deduce that linking the four lochs of the 'Great Glen' might be inevitable at some point in time but there's a snag to this kind of reasoning. Firstly, there weren't many books and maps in the seventeenth century and it's highly unlikely that any farm labourer would have access to one. Secondly, there were many people in the 1600s who wrote down the predictions but nothing was ever written by the man himself and which implies he could not read or write. Thirdly, looking at a map and drawing such a conclusion is to assume that the watery surface of each loch are at the same height; which, of course, they aren't; a problem that Telford solved by using locks to compensate for the differences. Collectively then, there are more arguments to suggest that this might never happen rather than the converse and it's interesting to note that it was eventually constructed for military purposes during one of the most expensive conflicts ever faced by this nation. His prediction of the Caledonian Canal was thus a fantastic guess or an amazing glimpse into the future.

"When it is possible to cross the River Ness dryshod in five places, a frightful disaster would strike the whole world"

The first time there were five bridges across the river Ness occurred in August 1939 when a bridge structure was employed to assist with the demolition of the Bridge Street suspension bridge and which had been condemned in 1937. A few days later, on 1st September, German armed forces passed through the Danzig corridor and invaded Poland and thus began the Second World War. Coincidence?

"When the ninth bridge crosses the Ness, there will be fire, flood and calamity,"

During the Brahan Seers lifetime, Inverness was a small community and the notion of nine bridges across the Ness must have seemed absurd but the ninth bridge was completed in 1987. In the following two years, the Piper Alpha oil platform exploded in flame and took 167 lives (fire), the 127 year old rail bridge across the Ness was washed away (flood) and Pan Am Flight 103 crashed down on the town of Lockerbie and taking 279 lives (calamity).

Coincidence? Possibly! In this case, one could select a series of news reports, apply a time span and make it look as if the prediction has been fulfilled. If one or none of the above had happened, it still seems lkely that some other incidents could have been applied in their place.

"He talked of great black, bridleless horses, belching fire and steam, drawing lines of carriages through the glens,"

Again this must have seemed like poppycock and nonsense back in the 1600s but it's a pretty fine description of a steam locomotive and which didn't make an appearance in the Highlands until two centuries later.

"Streams of fire and water will run side by side through the streets of Inverness and into every house."

This must have seemed pretty ridiculous in the 1600s because, as most people know, fire and water do not mix. Water extinguishes the flame! Having said that, it's entirely true that electricity wiring and pipes containing gas and water do run side by side and into many homes of our modern cities and towns. Given the limited knowledge of the 1600s, and without any clue about natural gas or electricity, how else might the Seer have described these other than by what they do. He may have assumed a gas flame was actually delivered in the pipe - who knows?

Some people, being pedantic, point out that this interpretation must be wrong because the pipes are under the streets rather than being through them and they are right in a sense but wrong in another. Each year, the planet grows in size ever so slightly and a rough estimate might suggest the streets of Inverness were about four feet lower in 1650 than they are today. Overall, this is a moot point and given the limitations of expression mentioned above, the Seer does seem to have got this one pretty much nailed.

"One day the Fairy Hill will be under lock and key and the fairies will be secured within."

The 'Fairy Hill' of Inverness was Tomnahurich and in 1860, the hill was turned into a cemetary. In true Victorian fashion, the cemetary was surround by iron railings with an iron gate that was locked each night.

"When the Eagle Stane (stone) falls three times, ships will sail as far as Strathpeffer."

The legend concerning the Eagle Stone is an intriguing one. It was thought to have been erected by the Clan Munro following a battle with the MacKenzies and in remembrance to those who had perished in battle. The stone is inscribed with the Munro crest of an eagle but there are some who believe the stone is much older.

According to the Brahan Seer; if the stone fell down three times, Loch Ussie would flood the valley below so that ships could sail as far as Strathpeffer. The stone has already fallen twice but there's not much in the way of information as regards what happened on the first occasion - if anything did. On the second occasion, though, the waters of the Cromarty Firth flooded right up to the old County Buildings in Dingwall. Some people took this to be sufficient warning and the stone was removed from the original site to a more stable area then cemented in place with concrete (see picture above).

"No future chief of the Mackenzies shall bear rule at Brahan or Kintail."
"Inherited by a white-coiffed lassie from the east and she is to kill her sister."
"The stern castle of Kilcoy shall stand cold and empty";

Many of Coinneach Odhar's predictions naturally concerned the fate of the Seaforth-MacKenzie dynasty and perhaps this is because he was an employee of the Third Earl of Seaforth. The future he predicted for them was far from rosy.

Brahan Castle was demolished in 1951 and the 14,000 acre Kintail estate is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The Seer predicted that "The stern castle of Kilcoy shall stand cold and empty" and which might have seemed pretty amazing since the castle had belonged to the MacKenzies for nearly three hundred years until 1813 and where it did remain abandoned for more than a century before it was restored.

About a mile west of Brahan House and beside the Dingwall - Ullapool road (A835) is the monument to Lady Caroline Mackenzie. It represents another element concerning the predictions relating to the fall of the Seaforths.

After foretelling the end of the male line (the last Lord Seaforth died after his four sons) the estates went to his eldest daughter. She had married Admiral Hood and spent many years stationed in the East Indies. When the Admiral died, Lady Mary Hood, later to become Lady Stewart-Mackenzie, returned to the UK wearing the traditional Indian white coife of mourning and indicative of her husbands death while serving overseas. In 1823, Lady Hood was in control of a pony carriage near Brahan House accompanied by her sister, Lady Caroline Mackenzie. The ponies bolted and the carriage overturned. Lady Caroline Mackenzie was thrown out and died of her injuries. In the 17th century, Coinneach Odhar had predicted the event by saying that Lord Seaforth's possessions would be "inherited by a white-coiffed lassie from the east and she is to kill her sister"

The Final Predictions

As indicated above, and in comparison with Nostradamus, it might have been better if the Brahan Seer had occasionally been silent or sufficiently resilient to the wishes of his employers. If he had, then he might have lived to a ripe old age rather than receiving the sentence of death.

Isabella, wife of the Earl of Seaforth and allegedly deemed to be one of the ugliest women in Scotland, asked for the Seer's advice as she was justifiably suspicious of her husband's late return from a visit to Paris. The Seer re-assured her that the Earl was in good health but he was unusually reluctant to say more. Sensing this uncharacteristic behaviour, Isabella threatened to have him killed unless he revealed all that he knew.

"Your husband is this moment with another who is fairer than yourself... The line of Seaforth will come to an end in sorrow. I see the last head of his house both deaf and dumb. He will be the father of four fair sons, all of whom he will follow to the tomb. He will live careworn, and die mourning, knowing that the honours of his line are to be extinguished forever; that no future chief of the Mackenzies shall bear rule at Brahan or in Kintail.

"His inheritor will be a white-coifed lass who will kill her sister. As a sign that these things are coming to pass, there shall be four great lairds in the days of the last Seaforth, the deaf and dumb chief. One shall be buck-toothed, another hare-lipped, another half-witted, and the fourth a stammerer. Chiefs like these shall be the neighbours of the last of the Seaforths; and when he sees them, he may know that his sons are doomed to death, that his lands shall pass away to the stranger, and that his race shall come to an end."

On hearing this, Isabella was so enraged as to call for her guards to seize him and screaming that he had insulted both her husband and herself with lies. The guards were ordered to drag him into the courtyard and throw him head-first into a barrel of boiling tar yet one realises that this could not have been an instant decision because he seems to have had the opportunity to throw the oracle stone (the one he used to raise to his blind eye and see into the future) into Loch Ussie and perhaps realising what fate lay in store for him. He predicted that the stone would be found again someday in the belly of a fish. So far as is known, the stone remains hidden somewhere in the Loch and a stone plaque at Channory Point, Rosemarkie, is said to mark the spot where the Brahan Seer died. The inscription on the plaque reads thus:

This stone commemorates the legend of Coinneach Odhar better known as the BRAHAN SEER - Many of his prophecies were fulfilled and tradition holds that his untimely death by burning in tar followed his final prophecy of the doom of the House of Seaforth.

Lady Seaforth declared that "Having had so much unhallowed intercourse with the unseen world, he would never go to heaven." The Seer replied that he would, but that Isabella would not. He prophesied that upon his death a flying raven and dove would meet in mid-air above his ashes and instantly alight. "If the raven be foremost, you have spoken truly; but if the dove, then my hope is well founded." To the wonder of all beholders of this final prediction, a dove, closely followed by a raven, was the first to alight on the dust of the departed Coinneach Odhar.

And so ended the legend and legend it might be!

The problem with the Brahan Seer is that there is no contemporary or historical record of any such individual ever existing. This is not surprising given the paucity of Scottish written sources from that period. One book, written by the noted Scottish folklorist Alexander Mackenzie, is the primary source for the Brahan Seer legend, and it was written in the late 19th century. The fact is, there are no Brahan Seer manuscripts or old editions with known provenance which can be used to back-test his predictions, as with Nostradamus. These accounts are oral tales which doubtless 'grew in the telling' and given the Scottish fascination with 'second sight' and story-telling, it is not impossible that the Seer's best predictions were invented after the fact to match up with events and later accepted as fact. Just how much is historical fact and how much is fiction is now almost impossible to define.

Credits:
Photograph and Text by Alandon