Brahan Castle

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Brahan Castle

Brahan Castle is the ruin of a country house about 3.5 miles southwest of Dingwall in Easter Ross in the Scottish county of Ross-shire (now part of the Highland administrative division ). The house belonged to the Earls of Seaforth , clan chiefs of the Mackenzies , the lords of the area.

history

Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth , built Brahan Castle in 1611. Kenneth Mackenzie , a laborer on the estate, was a noted seer who made a number of prophecies towards the end of the 17th century. He was called "Brahan Seer".

The Mackenzies were prominent Jacobites and participated in the Jacobite revolts of 1715, 1719, and 1745. The siege of Brahan Castle took place in November 1715. William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth , was declared an outlaw and forfeited his lands to the Crown; the property became the headquarters of General Wade during the “pacification” of the Highlands in 1725 . After the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745, the Mackenzies were the first clan to surrender and to swear allegiance to the British Crown on the steps of their castle.

The property was later sold back to the Mackenzie family, although the direct line died out in 1781. The property fell to Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth , who had trees planted there. After his death in 1815, without leaving an heir, Brahan Castle fell to the Stewart-Mackenzies . In the first half of the 19th century the castle was rebuilt as a larger, new country house.

James Stewart-Mackenzie was appointed Baron Seaforth in 1921 . When he died in 1923 without leaving an heir, the property fell to a trust. In World War II Brahan Castle was briefly commandeered by the army and after the war it was in dilapidated condition. The buildings were demolished in the early 1950s, leaving only the northern wall of the 19th century building and serving as a folly for the garden. The stables are preserved to this day and are called the Brahan House . Various heraldic shields and other decorative stones are kept in the house.

A monument on the property, about 1 mile west of the country house's former location, commemorates the death of Caroline Mackenzie , daughter of the last earl, who died after falling from a pony wagon near this location.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Entry on Brahan Castle  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  2. ↑ Alexander Mackenzie: History of the Munros of Fowlis . 1898. p. 99. (Cited a contemporary manuscript by Major Fraser of Castleleathers).
  3. ↑ a b c Garden and Designed Landscape - entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  4. ↑ Clan Mackenzie . Clan Mackenzie Society of Scotland and the UK. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  5. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .

Coordinates: 57 ° 33 ′ 25 ″  N , 4 ° 29 ′ 21 ″  W.