Fògradh, Fàisneachd, Filidheachd Read online

  Here’s another prophecy: “The day will come when the jawbones of the big sheep will put the plough on the roost. When the big sheep are so plentiful that the bleating of one can be heard by the other, from Conachra in Lochalsh to Bundaloch in Kintail, they will be at their top price. After that they will decrease until they disappear, and they will be forgotten so much that the jawbone of a sheep, or whatever animal it belonged to, will not be recognized when found on a cairn. The old aristocracy will leave the land and be replaced by Lowland merchants. All of the Highlands will be one large deer-forest. The country will be so short of people, and so deserted, that a cockcrow cannot be heard north of Drumochter. The people will emigrate to distant islands that cannot be seen today but are found out in the Atlantic. After that the deer and the other wild animals will be destroyed and drowned by the dark elements. Then the people will return and take possession of the land of their ancestors.”

  Another prediction: “The Gaels will go to America but they will return to their own country.” A portent regarding MacLeod of Raasay said: “When these people come – fair-haired MacDonald, red-haired Fraser, squint red Chisholm, big deaf MacKenzie, and bandy-legged MacLeod, the great-grandson of little John of Ruigeath and the worst MacLeod ever – I will not be there and I would not wish to be.” The prophecy was fulfilled. MacLeod, the grandson of little John, was so extravagant that he squandered the estate of his forebears. The others mentioned were his contemporaries and they had the features noted by the seer.

  He also gave this warning: “When the Fearn river subsides three times, and a shelled salmon is caught at the bottom, that will be a painful trial.” The Fearn river has subsided twice, the last time in 1826 when there was a severe drought. The wood caught on fire in Miramichi also and many houses were burned. Sixteen years ago a “shelled salmon,” or sturgeon, was caught in the river-bed. “The people will become so faint-hearted that they will escape from the country before an army of sheep.” It happened; the land was given to sheep and the people left.

  Kenneth made a notable prediction about the MacKenzies of Fairburn and Castle or Tower of Fairburn: “The day will come when the MacKenzies of Fairburn will lose all of their land, and that branch of the clan will disappear so that none of them is left on the face of the earth. The castle will be derelict and deserted, and a cow will give birth to a calf in the upper room of the tower.” All of this happened just as he had forecast. This branch of the Clan MacKenzie lost all of their possessions and the cow delivered a calf in the upper chamber.

  A few years ago the tower was abandoned. The doors rotted and fell down, one by one, until there was no door on the big winding stair from the bottom to the top. This stair was made of stone and was therefore strong and durable. Recently the farmer who had the place on lease stored fodder in the upper room. Some of the straw fell on the stair when they were carrying it up. One day a cow came to the door of the tower and, since the door was open, she went inside and began to gather and eat the straws that were scattered on the stair. She continued to do this as she went step by step of the stair until she reached the top. She went into the room, still eating the straw, but since she was expecting a calf she could not descend the stair. So they left her there until she gave birth to beautiful and healthy calf. They left the cow and the calf there for some time and many people went from Inverness to see them. Kenneth’s prophecy was fulfilled to the letter.

  Kenneth said: “A hairless dark-skinned girl will be born behind the Gairloch church.” This happened during a gathering of people. A young woman, who was in the congregation at the back of the church, suddenly went into labour. Before they could carry her away from the place she gave birth to the “hairless dark-skinned girl.” This child’s descendants are to be seen and found in Gairloch to this day. So Kenneth’s conjecture has come to pass.

  He also made a prediction about MacLeod of Dunvegan: “When Norman of the Three Normans, son of the thin, hard Englishwoman, dies accidentally; when MacLeod’s Maidens are sold to one of the Campbells; when a vixen gives birth to a pack of pups in one of the highest rooms of the castle; and when the Fairy Flag is exposed for the last time, MacLeod’s congeniality will vanish. Most of the estate will be sold to strangers. The clan will be so sparse that a small coracle will carry the gentlemen across Loch Dunvegan. However, a long time after that another ‘Spotted John’ will arrive, will restore the estate, and the reputation of the house will be greater than ever before.”

  Some of this prophecy was fulfilled. Norman of the Three Normans was killed when the warship Queen Charlotte, on which he served as an officer, was blown up. The rocks known as “The Maidens” were sold to Angus Campbell and they are still owned by his grandson. Captain MacLean had a pet vixen that stayed in the upper part of the castle and she gave birth to a swarm of pups. Dr. MacLeod, big Highland Norman the Preacher, saw the pups in 1799 when he was in Dunvegan Castle in Skye. At that time also he saw the MacLeod “Fairy Flag” being unfolded from the iron chest in which it was stored, closed up in a fragrant perfumed wooden box. The flag was a rectangular piece of precious silk sewn with crosses of gold thread. The rest of the prophecy is still to come, if it comes at all.

  We shall now observe how the life of Kenneth the Seer came to an end. At the time of King Charles the Second, after he inherited the crown and the throne, Kenneth the third Earl of Seaforth went on a mission to Paris, the capital city of France, and left Lady Seaforth at home in Brahan Castle. The earl stayed in Paris for a long time, and his wife was getting anxious as she longed for his return. Finally she lost her patience and sent word to Kenneth the Seer so that he would tell her something about the earl. Kenneth came to Brahan Castle and Lady Seaforth asked him if he could tell her whether the earl was alive or dead. Kenneth put the Stone of Prophecy to his eye and, with loud and garrulous laughter, he said: “Do not worry about the earl; he is well, healthy, safe, hearty, playful and happy.”

  The lady then asked him what her husband was doing and who was around him. Kenneth replied: “Be satisfied with what you have been told; don’t ask any questions; be pleased in the knowledge that the earl is healthy and happy.” “But,” she said, “Where is he? Who is with him? Is he preparing to come home?” The seer said: “The earl is in a large majestic room, in fine company, enjoying mirth and merriment, so that he has no word of leaving France’s big city at this time.” But this reply was not enough for Lady Seaforth. She provoked Kenneth to tell her everything about her husband. She swore at him, promised rewards and threatened him, so that he would tell her all he knew.

  Having relaxed and shrugged his shoulders, Kenneth told her: “Since you want to know what will leave you unhappy I must tell you the truth. Earl MacKenzie is not giving much thought to yourself, or his children, or his home in the Highlands. I saw him in a room of splendour, dressed in velvet, silk and golden robes. He was on his knees in front of a beautiful maiden, with his hands around her waist, and her hand on his lips.”

  When Lady Seaforth heard this she lit up with anger and swelled up with wrath. The ire that was natural against the earl, she turned it viciously against the seer. She pretended that she did not believe what the seer was saying and decided to put him to death. She told him: “You spoke blasphemy against high rank, you slandered the nobles of the land, and you humiliated a great chief in the presence of his clan. You despised me and the castle and spoke scurrilously about the earl in the big palace of his ancestors. For that reason I must put you to death.”

  Kenneth was surprised and horrified to hear the words of the earl’s wife, who was a hard-hearted, ruthless and merciless demon. The seer thought that he would be rewarded for his prophecies, but his reward was death. This despicable woman ordered that he be taken out to be burned in a barrel of tar at Fortrose, by decree of Bishop Ross of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

  Another folktale gives a different version of the reason for Lady Seaforth’s anger at Kenneth the Seer. According to the story
there was, at a certain time, a big banquet and a large collection of aristocrats in Brahan Castle. The children of the nobles were playing outside, on the green meadow around the castle. Somebody said, in Kenneth’s hearing, that it was seldom that one saw such a large gathering of the children of the nobles. Kenneth gave a derisive response: “There are more children of the footmen and the grooms than children of the nobility.”

  One of the variants of the story says that the youngsters were dancing inside the castle, not on the meadow, when Kenneth spoke mockingly about them. His comments were passed on to Lady Seaforth, and she and the other ladies were angry with him for doubting the virtues and reputation of the gentlewomen of Ross and for disrespecting them in that way. She ordered that the seer be detained immediately. Though he went into hiding for a while he was eventually found. When he saw there was no hope of escaping from his enemies he put the stone of prophecy to his eye and said: “I can see far ahead, and I can see the judgement that the descendants of my oppressors will suffer. The old family of the Earl of Seaforth will be totally annihilated before many generations pass. I see a chief, the last of his family, both deaf and dumb, He will have four fine sons but they will all be in the grave before him. He will spend his life in anxiety and suffer a sad demise, mourning that the descendants of his race will be obliterated forever, and that no MacKenzie will ever again be the lord of Brahan Castle or Kintail. After grieving for the death of his last son, the most charming of them, he himself will die, and his estate will be inherited by a white-hooded girl from the east who is destined to kill her sister. As a sign that this will happen, there will be four contemporary lords sharing characteristics with the last Earl of Seaforth, who will be deaf and dumb. These are the broken-toothed Baronet MacKenzie of Gairloch, Chisholm with the harelip, gormless Grant, and stuttering MacLeod. When MacKenzie of Brahan sees these four he will understand that his sons are bound to die, that the estate will go to strangers, and that his family will be exterminated forever, without a male member to succeed him.”

  When the seer finished this prophecy he threw the stone into a pool, according to some, or into a cow’s hoof-mark filled with water, saying: “Whoever gets that stone will also have the gift of prophecy,” Some say that he added: “A child will be born with two navels, or twenty-four fingers, and will find this stone inside a pike-fish, giving him the power of prediction.”

  When Kenneth was brought out to be burned Lady Seaforth told him that he would never go to heaven. He turned round and replied: “I will go to heaven but you will never go there. Here is a sign by which you can find out my circumstances in the world to come. A dove and a raven will fly toward each other from two sides of the sky, until they lie on the ashes of my body. If the raven arrives first you spoke the truth. If the dove comes first you lied, and my hope is well-founded.”

  Lady Seaforth ordered that Kenneth be bound, hand and foot, and carried to the Chanonry Point where he was thrown head first into a fiercely burning barrel of tar with long, sharp iron spikes that had been driven into it from the outside. This terrible thing was done by authorization of the Bishop of Ross and the clergy of the Episcopal Church, which had been established at that time by King Charles the Second as the kingdom’s church in Scotland.

  On the very day that Kenneth was taken from Brahan Castle the Earl of Seaforth came home from France, and they told him at once what Lady Seaforth had done to Kenneth, and that he was now on his way to Fortrose by order of the clergy, to be burned to death. The Earl was well aware of the vengeful nature of his wife and believed that the story was all too true. He didn’t ask for or partake of food and drink, and he didn’t summon a servant or stable-boy. He ran to the stable by himself, saddled the best horse, mounted it, and rode it at high speed, spurring it on as fast as possible. He hoped to reach Chanonry Point before the diabolical objective of his wife and the clergy was accomplished. The Earl of Seaforth never rode so fast. In a short time he was near Fortrose and saw thick black smoke rising from the headland down below. He was nauseated and broke out in a cold sweat. He spurred on the horse that was already about to give up, so that he would get to the place of execution and save the life of the seer. He was only a few yards from the place where the smoke was rising when the horse fell and breathed its last gasp, for it couldn’t stand the exertion any more as the Earl urged him forward.

  When he lost the horse the Earl ran quickly, shouting at the top of his voice to the crowd gathered on the headland, to save the life of the seer. But, sadly, he was too late. Whether or not the crowd heard the shouting of the Earl, Kenneth was thrown in the flaming barrel a few minutes before the Earl of Seaforth arrived to rescue him.

  In this way the seer’s life came to an end. It is unlikely that the tragic tale of his death would be invented if it had not happened as told. If Kenneth had died a natural death in his bed, it is not credible that the sad story would have been concocted. But what can we say about church officials who condoned such a dreadful act and agreed to it? They certainly wanted to please Lady Seaforth, but in these dark days it was customary to burn witches and seers, and many were put to death on that indictment who had no more witchcraft than the grey mare.

  We will now tell how Kenneth’s prophecy about the Earl of Seaforth’s family came to fruition, nearly 150 years after he had made the prediction.

  We have seen what happened to the seer. Let us now look at what happened in relation to his prognostication about MacKenzie of Brahan. The earl who was there at Kenneth’s time died in 1678. His son, the fourth earl, died and his heir, the fifth earl, lost the estate and the title because he supported the Jacobite cause in 1715. However, the estate was given back to him in 1726, and in 1771 his son was given the title Earl of Seaforth, but when he died in 1781 the title died with him. He didn’t have an heir and a second-cousin got the estate. He had it for only two years, for he was killed in the East Indies in 1783. His brother took his place and was the last MacKenzie in Brahan, where the seer’s prediction was consummated.

  This Francis was born in 1764. When he was born he had all of his mental and physical faculties but he lost his hearing from scarlet fever when he was a young lad in school at the age of sixteen. When he grew up and got the Brahan estates on the death of his brother, he set up a regiment to fight Bonaparte in 1807, and became a general in 1808. He had four sons but one of them died in his youth. The other three reached adulthood but they died, one after the other. The last one was a handsome and promising young man with good mental qualities, but he was stricken by a severe disease and went for relief to the south of England, where he died. When the old MacKenzie heard of his son’s death he became speechless. He was dumb and never spoke again, whether he was unable or unwilling to talk. He passed away on January 11, 1813, the last of his family.

  The oldest surviving daughter replaced her father as the owner of the Brahan estate. She was married to the Admiral, Sir Samuel Hood, head of the British navy in the West and East Indies, but he died in the East while still a young man, leaving a young widow. She came home from the Indies with a White Hood on her head; and her name was Hood. Later she married Mr. Stewart, grandson of the Earl of Galloway. He took the name MacKenzie along with his own surname and was therefore known as Stewart MacKenzie. In this way the Brahan estate passed from the men of the old Kintail family. Subsequently Mr. and Mrs. Stewart MacKenzie sold the Isle of Lewis to Sir James Matheson.

  One day Mrs. Stewart Mackenzie was in a pony-drawn carriage. The ponies got scared and began to run at high speed. The lady was unable to stop them and she and her sister were thrown out of the carriage. They were hurt and sorely bruised. The Lady recovered soon but her younger sister died from her injuries. Therefore Kenneth’s prophecy came to conclusion. The Lady of Brahan caused her sister’s death, though she was not to blame for it. The other four aristocrats were MacKenzie’s contemporaries: Sir Hector of Gairloch, the buck-toothed landlord; Chisholm with the hare-lip; Grant the fool; and stamm
ering MacLeod.

  We now bring this short history to an end. Without doubt many of Kenneth’s predictions were literally accomplished and there are people who think that more of them will come to pass in the future. Be that as it may, many years and generations will go by before the Gaels will stop talking about his second-sight, the terrible death that he suffered, and how the dove came to rest on his ashes, as he himself had foretold, as an omen that his soul had been borne to Paradise.

  Fàisneachd

  (25 Gearran gu 8 Giblean 1893)

  Coinneach Odhar am Fiosaiche

  Anns an àm a chaidh seachad b’àbhaist do na Gàidheil agus do mhuinntir eile a bhi creidsinn gu mòr ann an “Taibhsearachd”, no an “Dà shealladh,” mar a theireadh iad. Bho cheann trì fichead bliadhna agus a deich, nuair a bha an sgrìobhadair so ’na ghiullan beag ann am Mùideart, ann an Gleann Alladail, a’ fuireach anns an taigh far an do chaidil am Prionnsa Teàrlach, nuair a bha e air a thuras gu Gleann Fhionghain, far an do chuir e suas a bhratach ri crann anns a’ bhliadhna 1745, is iomadh sgiala agus beulràdh a chual’ e mu dheidhinn taibhsearachd, oir bha taibhsearan ann am Mùideart glè lìonmhor aig an àm sin.

  Ann an Lochabar, an dèidh dha Mùideart fhàgail, bu tric a chual’ e iomradh air Coinneach Odhar am Fiosaiche, taibhsear ainmeil a bha bho shean ann an taobh tuath na h-Alba. Theagamh nach cuala mòran de na Gàidheil a thogadh ann an Ceap Breatann mu thimcheall so, agus air son fiosrachaidh dhaibhsan faodar beagan aithris anns a’ phàipear so a rèir a’ chunntais a chuir Mr Alasdair MacCoinnich a mach mu dheidhinn anns an leabhar a sgrìobh e uime.