Fairburn Tower
Ross-shire
A design with its origin in the fabled prophecy of the Fairburn Calf made by the shadowy Brahan Seer in the seventeenth century. His vision foretold the destitution of the Mackenzie clan of Fairburn,declaring their tower would fall to ruin and play host to the birth of a calf in its uppermost chamber. Duncan’s pattern illustrates this compelling tale, which is said to have come true in the 1800s.
His research looked to traditional Scottish painted ceilings to inform the linear repeat, showing the cow first climbing and then descending with its calf in alternating columns amid thistles in bud and bloom. The intervening stripes bear the flame of the Mackenzie motto Luceo Non Uro – I Shine, Not Burn. A muted pink was mixed to complement the tower’s freshly harled exterior, and printed on an antique shade of linen to soften new timber and plaster interventions.
