Talk:Brahan Seer

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Inclusion of modern historical analysis (Andrew McKenzie, 2024)

I would like to propose the inclusion of a "Modern Historical Analysis" or "Deconstruction" section to the main article. Currently, the entry relies heavily on 19th-century accounts by Alexander Mackenzie, which treat Coinneach Odhar as a singular 17th-century figure.

Recent scholarship, specifically Andrew McKenzie's 2024 book, Scotland’s Nostradamus: A Quest for the Brahan Seer, provides a significant new perspective that should be represented here. McKenzie argues that the Seer is not a single historical person, but a composite mythical character conflated from three distinct sources:

1. Michael Scot (13th Century): McKenzie traces the "prophetic" archetype back to this real-life Border-born scholar and astrologer who served Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.

2. The 16th-Century "Enchanter":Historical court records from 1577 identify a man named Coinneach Odhar accused of witchcraft, predating the traditional "Brahan" timeline by nearly a century.

3. The 17th-Century Earl: The legend later integrated elements from the life of Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth.

https://www.unicornpublishing.org/page/detail/scotlands-nostradamus/?k=9781916846449

Adding this would help clarify the "Historical Evidence" section, which currently notes the lack of contemporary manuscripts but does not explain how or why the various legends merged. This research offers a framework for understanding the Seer as a product of "patchwork oral tradition" rather than a singular historical prophet.

Does anyone have objections to adding a summary of this more recent critical scholarship? ~2026-37994 (talk) 13:38, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

Early Life

The entire article is very confusing. Given that so many persons are named Mackenzie - including contemporaries and later scholars - I feel that "the Brahan Seer" should be used exclusively for the subject of the article - calling him "Mackenzie" at various places in his history is extremely confusing. Mastakos (talk) 04:19, 27 April 2026 (UTC)