The Seer of Kintail

by Elizabeth Sutherland

Elizabeth Sutherland has imagined Brahan Seer or Coinneach Odhar's life from the cradle to his tragic end, whereupon the reader is left was he evil and mad or blessed with a divine gift?

223 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Elizabeth Sutherland had an Orcadian father and a mother from Fife, which, she claims, makes her a Pict. After training at Edinburgh University to be a social worker, she married an Episcopalian clergyman and lived in four Scottish parishes, ending up in Fortrose, on the Black Isle.

On her late husband's retirement in 1982 she took over Groam House Museum in Rosemarkie and was responsible for its becoming a Pictish Centre. Her work on Coinneach Odhar - the Brahan Seer - established her as a serious historian. The subject was especially relevant, as he ended his days in a burning barrel of tar at Chanonry Point, Fortrose.

Recently she has turned her hand to Black Isle local history in a series of pamphlets for Black Isle Press.

Biography, bibliography and excerpts available at Am Baile: The Highland Council's Literary Landscapes.

Reviews

[Ross Maclean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been fascinated by the legend of the Brahan Seer and the folkloric tradition of second sight in the Scottish Highlands for a while and this novel takes the established legends and prophecies associated with him and knits them into a propulsive, imagined history of his life that’s in parts lusty, melancholy and thrilling. The brilliance of the novel is in its structure, split into chapters by places he moves through and further broken down into a fragmented narrative through being told via a succession of first-person accounts by those who encounter him. The variation of voices from the lyrical to the perfunctory reveal as much about those narrators as the Seer. What we end up with is an impressionistic take on an unknowable character, coloured by individual perceptions and prejudices. Its sense of that period of history from a knowing modern (1974) perspective is brilliantly executed and as compelling an achievement as possible when dealing with a subject that blends historical fact and myth.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned about the Brahan Seer as a child. This book cleverly weaves his visions into a story of his life. Anyone from the highlands or who enjoys Scots history would find it interesting.

[Clifford]

Fascinating story, now whether it's true or not. But a good read nonetheless.