Brahan (Brathainn as it is in Gaelic) is the name given to the land, which was the traditional home of the Seaforths,the Chiefs of Clan MacKenzie. Here stood Brahan Castle, which for centuries was the setting of many a romantic episode in both the Jacobite Risings and the religious struggles that seized the Highlands when the MacKenzies were at the peak of their power.
It was here, on the steps of Brahan Castle, that the Jacobite MacKenzies became the first defeated clan forced to surrender their arms and swear allegiance to the English Crown. And it was here, a few years later, that a famous royal regiment was raised, the Seaforth Highlanders, taking over 500 men from the estate alone to fight for the British Empire. The Seaforth Highlanders history continues within the British Army as one of the antecedent Regiments that are now The Highlanders, 4th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The Castle was demolished in 1951, the rubble unceremoniously used as foundations for the new Conon bridge, but you need only consider that today’s Brahan House, grand as it is, was the original stables, to get a glimpse of those times past.
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- Brahan Castle
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- Brahan House
