Folk music: Jim Gilchrist previews the Blas Festival

Lauren MacColl grew up surrounded by tales of the 17th century prophet

Coinneach Odhar went out in a blaze, but not of glory. The Brahan Seer, as he was known, became famous for his prophecies, peering through his scrying stone to predict such events as the Battle of Culloden, the collapse of Fearn Abbey and the coming of “horrid black rains”, deemed to foretell the North Sea oil industry. However, when he used his powers to give his employer, the Countess of Seaforth, news that her husband was dallying with another woman in France, the enraged countess had him burned to death in a barrel of tar at Chanonry Point, near Fortrose on the Black Isle.

Such are the stories, though documentary evidence is thinner on the ground. Now Black Isle fiddler Lauren MacColl, who grew up surrounded by tales of the prophet, has composed a suite of music inspired by them. Premiered at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections in January, The Seer now returns to the prophet’s home ground as one of the headline events for the forthcoming Blas Highland festival.

Playing at Balintore, Tain, on 4 September and Eden Court, Inverness, on the 5th, The Seer also features Megan Henderson, Rachel Newton, Mairearad Green and James Mackintosh, with a backdrop of images by Highland artist Somhairle MacDonald.

Now based near Aviemore, MacColl grew up in Fortrose, steeped in tales of the Brahan Seer. “Some of these stories have grown arms and legs over the years,” she says, “with some prophecies very relevant and others which haven’t quite come true yet.” One that particularly stands out is his prophecy, made at Drummossie Moor – Culloden – a century before the battle, that it would be “stained with the best blood of the Highlands”.

Writing a suite of new music was something of a departure for MacColl: “Historically I’ve largely recorded traditional music and I’m really into delving into the old collections. But I’ve tried to keep these new tunes very much in the traditional idiom.”

And a renowned collector of Gaelic song, rather than tunes, is also being celebrated in a special Blas commission. Dìleab Uilleim: Rev William Matheson’s Gaelic Song Legacy will be presented at four locations by Gaelic broadcaster and producer Jo MacDonald, featuring such esteemed singers as Rachel Walker, Robert Robertson, Christine Primrose, Linda NicLeòid and Ross Wilson.

Originally from North Uist, Matheson, who died in 1995, was an ordained Church of Scotland minister who later became Reader in Celtic at the University of Edinburgh. He played a hugely important role in preserving Gaelic songs which he started amassing while a student and personally recorded for the university’s School of Scottish Studies – many of them can be heard on the invaluable Tobar an Dualchais online archive. The degree to which these songs are in circulation today is something MacDonald wants to highlight: “To talk about ‘source singers’ is a bit invidious because songs can exist in many locations, but without a doubt a lot of material is available today due to Willie. Even before he was recorded by the School of Scottish Studies he taught a lot of songs to Joan MacKenzie, who was a very popular singer around the Seventies, and she helped bring them into common currency.”

Playing in Carinish, North Uist on 5 September, Portree, Skye, on the 6th, Bunessan, Mull, on the 7th and Eden Court on the 8th, the show’s core singers will be augmented by others with local connections, such as Eilidh Cormack in Skye and Alasdair Whyte in Mull.

“You just have to look at the sleeve notes of albums by contemporary Gaelic singers,” adds MacDonald. “Almost all of them pay tribute to Willie Matheson. He was incredibly generous. I remember Mary Smith telling me how they met at  a conference and she asked him about a particular song and he promptly sent her a C90 cassette, full of songs.”

Blas runs from 1-9 September in various venues across the Highlands and Islands, www.blas-festival.com