Yet for all the power of the Seaforths, it is the mysterious power of one of their Estate workers, Kennth MacKenzie ,that has made the Estate famous the world over.
Better known as the Brahan Seer, this shadowy figure from the seventeenth century was, and still is, renowned for his many prophecies which for generations following his execution have continued to come true.
It was he who foresaw in detail the downfall of the Seaforth MacKenzies, including the death of Lady Caroline MacKenzie at the hands of her sister, the Hooded Lassie. A monument on the Estate marks the exact spot.
Today, a direct descendant of the Hooded Lassie owns the Estate, and with his wife Judith, Andrew Matheson ensures that the three demands of farm, forest and leisure management are met with little loss in the wild richness of the natural environment.
There are still beautifully overgrown gardens to explore, long driveways lined with exotic trees, dark lochs and swampy ponds bustling with birdlife, and the mature River Conon winding its way gracefully through the Estate, around secluded islands and out across its esturine mudflats into the Cromarty Firth.
