The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-09-07
CURIOUS CONDOLENCES.

no family can have auy right TO call
Itself " ld'' unless it. has its "Iam y
gnost." AS regards the Highlands OF
Scotland, We may substitute Tor the
Ignnst the inevitable .,oom' or prcdic
non, InI ete.ling future veal or woe to
the family. Almost every old Highland
house nas It's "prophecy" OF taIs kind,
such as the Argyll ana Breadaibane pre-
diCtiOns, the "Fate Of SeaiOrlh," the
"Fall and Rise of Macleod" and many
,ners wei known in the Lortn. The
great majority Of the families SO gifted
nave had OF course no events in their
history that even the credulity OF their
retainers in the past could twist i'll the
! FUN lment OF the productions; but III a
few cases there have been some curious
| colaci enc,s between the old traditions
and the laclS OF Il laler time.
I We propose to Sc. .ect one or two well
authenticated instances OF such coin
cideuces from among mass OF Highland
superstition in a little book that ha )
recently been published at Inverness,
entitled "rne Prophecies of the Bra
han Seer" by Alexander Mackenzie
! (Inyerness: A. ana w. MackenZie) J.
In!s pamphlet is collection OF mos t
ut the tradItionary "prupuecies' attri-
buted to an apocryphal Ross shire seer
of tue seventeenth century, and which
have been handed down by oral trad =
ton from generation to generation in
The Highlands since that time.
In me north, the popular faith in this
prophet, COinRedch Odhar, or Dun Ken
neth," and his predictions, has been,
and is, botn strong and wide, says Mr..
Mackenzie, who thinks the legends
worthy Of preservation, as an additional
chapter, "both remarkable ana curious,
to the already extensive history of the
marvellous" AT any rate, these legends
are of some interest as illustrations OF
the superstition and credulity of the
ii lghlanders. Of the last century, ami
perhaps even of this; but our purpose
leaves untDuched the wilder traditions
in this collection, and deals only with
two episOdes in the histories OF two
great families of the north.
Sir Edmund Burke, in his "Vicissi.
tudes OF Families" has Il weird chapter
on "the fate of Seaworth," i'll which he
gives at iull length the doom of this fam
lily, as pronounced by the "Warlock OF
the GleA"-as Sir Edmund calls Dun
Kenneth--and its fu hllment century
and half alter it was SPOKEN. Burke
seemingly accepts as fact, as does MI.
Mackenzie, the purely mythical story o.
tne seer and his cruel fate-how, being
IL clansman of Seaforth, and famed for
his prophetic skill, he was called on by
his ChiePs wife to explain why her nus
band stayed so long III Paris, whittier
he had gone on business soon alter the
ResLoration; how the Warlock, unwlll-
ing at first to tell what mis- uncanny gift
showed him, at last was forced to say
that the Lord of Kntail was forgetting
home and Lady ISABEL N the smiles of
French lady; how the angry Countess,
furious thai he should have SO SLAM
deyed his Chief before his cIansmen,
ordered the seer TO be burned 10
dealh-another instance OF the pro-
verbal "hOnor' in which prophets are
he'd in their own country. AS he
WAS dying at the stake, Kenneth ut
tered a Wlerd prediction sfOretelling the
downfall oftbe SeaI0rths for Lady Isa-
bePs CRIME. So runs the legend. 1t is
quite certain that prediction regard
IN Q the Seaiorth family was we'll known
in the Highlands long before the days OF
the last chief oil Il mail. We have Lock
arts authority tur the TACT that bOtn
Sir Humphrey Dayy and Sir Walter
Scott knew and believed it. II do fear
tue accomplishment OF the propnecy,"
writes Scott IN another place TO his
friend Morrit, OF R0keDy, VINO himself
testities that he heard it quoted in the
Highlands at time Wuen Lord Sea-
forth mad two sons both alive and in
good health. This prediction ran, that
The house oil SeafOrth would fall when
there should be deaf and dumb earl
VINO should sell klnlail (the 'gitt-land"
of his hOuse) J; that this earl would have
three sons, AL of whom he should sur
yiye; that four great Highland lairds,
his contemporaries, should each have
certain physical defects, which were
named; mat the Searorth estates should
20 10 a "white-hoOded lassie from the
East" who should be the cause Of her
sisters death.
With all these particulars the facts
coincided exactly. Francis Humber
stone Mackenzie, the last Seaforth be.
came deaf from an attack OF fever while
at school, and latterly also became
dumb. His remarkable life is well,
known. He raised from his clan the
Seventy eighth Highlanders, and subse-
uuentIy rose to be a Lieutenant General
in the army ana Governor of various
colonies. Scott, whose great friend he
was, says he was man 'ot eXtraordi-
nary talents, who must have made Tor
himself lasting reputation, had not his
political eXertlOns been checked by
painful natural Intirmlty." He was the
happy father Of three sons and six
uIClS} al w hlSu DuG we
END Of his lie was darkened by mistol-
tunes. Two OF MS sons died suddenly;
and III 1914 William, his last hope-M. Z.
Ior hts native county, and young man
of great abliitles-sIckened OF llnger-
ing disease, and died about the time that
losses in the West Inuies necessitated
the sale OF ktntail. In January follow
ing the old man, br0ken-hearted at the
loss OF his three sons, died; and then, as
Scott says:
''Of the line Of Mackenneth remained not
male
To bear the proud name OF the Chiefs Of Kin
tail"
The estates went to his eldest dauph-
ter, the widow Of AdmIral Sir Samuel
Hood, who was on her way home from
India when her father died. The tour
Highland lairds, friends OF Earl Fran
els, were all distinguished by the pe-
culiar personal marks which were men,
toned in the predictions; and to make
the coincidence complete, Lady Hood
then Mrs. Stewart Maekenzie-many
years afterward may be said to have
been the innocent cause of her sisters
death, tor when she was driving Miss
Caroline Mackenzie in q pony-carriage,
the ponies ran away, the ladies were
thrown out, and Miss Mackenzie killed
So much for this strange cnapLer in
family history. Let us now glance al
the records OF another family-equally
famous in the Highlands-wnere the pre-
diction, as whole. has not been tul-
a. l.