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SOME OF THE MORE
REMOTE CASTLES OF SCOTLAND
This is a
new section, one which we will update every now and
then, as takes our fancy!!! It is here to
introduce you to some of our most distant castles,
remote but you can visit them. By no means is
this going to be every castle in every remote place,
just some ideas for you, and aye, REMEMBER, we can take you
there, or arrange your trip if you wish, just mail
us and we will do it all for you.
WHY NOT STAY
OVERNIGHT IN A SCOTTISH CASTLE?
As a part of your vacation we can
plan in a castle overnight stay
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Castle of Ardvreck
stands by the shores of Loch Assynt in some
of the most spectacular scenery of the British
Isles… late 16th century, the castle was built on a
small peninsula, access to which was controlled by a
rampart. Throughout the short period of occupation
it was the scene of considerable violence both
within the MacLeod family and with neighbours. In
1672 the castle was besieged for two weeks by the
MacKenzies of Wester Ross whose success broke the
MacLeod's control of the area. The castle changed
hands and in 1726 it was abandoned, only to be
struck by lightning a few years later… a number of
ghosts are said to haunt the ruins. |
Ardvreck Castle with the remains of
Calda House in the distance, right; the ruins of the castle
Their days of violence apparently over, the
MacKenzies left Ardvreck for Calda House, which they
built some 600 metres away. The stylish lines of
this mansion contrast starkly with the castle. The
MacKenzies clearly wished for more luxury than the
tower had been able to supply and no expense was
spared to build what must have been an extraordinary
dwelling for the north-west Highlands at the time.
This extravagance was their downfall, however, and
led to financial ruin and the sale of Assynt to the
Earl of Sutherland. One result was the despoiling of
Calda House, deliberately pillaged and burnt by
MacKenzie followers to prevent the Sutherlands from
enjoying similar comforts. On a knoll to the east of
the castle lies a chambered cairn, now much eroded
but dating back 5,000 years and used as a burial
place by the first farmers to settle by the loch
Ardvreck today has changed yet again. A car park,
display boards and pathways have made it a part of
our heritage industry.
Corgarff Castle
(below) lies in a remote location 8 miles southwest
of Strathdon in Aberdeenshire, across the River Don
from the small settlement of Corgarff. It is a
much-altered late 16th Century tower house, still
complete with its star-shaped fortifications and
barrack room. An original structure on this site was
the property of the Earls of Mar and this passed to
the Forbes family. However a feud with the Gordons
brought the burning of the castle in 1581, while the
Forbes men were away, killing 28 women and children.
The castle came back into the hands of the Earls of
Mar in 1626 and was used as a mustering point for
the Royalist army of James Graham, Marquis of
Montrose (1612-50) in 1645. It was burned by the
Jacobites in 1689 to prevent its use by the
Government, but rebuilt only to be set ablaze once
again by Hanoverian Government in 1716 to punish
'Bobbing John', the Earl of Mar who had led the
Jacobite Rising the previous year. The castle was
forfeited along with the Mar estates and returned to
the Forbes. The Jacobites re-occupied the castle in
1745. Bought by the government after the Battle of
Culloden, it was extended and the fortification
built to create a barracks for Hanoverian soldiers
involved in the subjugation of the Highlands. It
remained garrisoned into the 19th century as the
government tried to counter the problem of illicit
whisky distilling. Corgarff is now in the care of
Historic Scotland and is open to the you. Opening
Hours: The Castle is open April to September: 9.30am
to 6.30pm every day.
October to March: 9.30am to 4.30pm Saturdays and
Sundays only. A good stop on a tour route. 
Left: Corgarff Castle. Right: the ruins of
Strome.
Strome Castle was
built in in the 1400s. Its position is a
strategically important one, guarding the north side
of the Strome Narrows near the mouth of Loch Carron
and the ancient ferry crossing here. And its
position is also a commanding one, on a rocky bluff,
surrounded by steep drops to the shore and sea on
three sides. You will find it on the main road from
Achnasheen to Kyle of Lochalsh followed the north
west side of Loch Carron from Lochcarron to a ferry
which plied between here and Strome Ferry on the far
shore. After a century or so in which the castle
changed hands a number of times, it was granted by
James V to the Macdonalds of Glengarry in 1539. For
the next 63 years the Macdonalds intermittently
fought to keep possession of it with their
neighbours, the Mackenzies of Kintail. In 1602 the
castle was besieged by Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord of
Kintail. Mackenzie was on the point of giving up the
siege when, one night, some Macdonald women drawing
water from the castle's well accidentally deposited
it in the barrel containing the castle's stocks of
gunpowder rather than in the barrel containing their
immediate supply of water. A Mackenzie prisoner in
the castle overheard the argument that followed and
in the confusion escaped to inform Kenneth Mackenzie
that the castle was now effectively defenceless. The
Macdonald garrison negotiated their surrender and
safe passage and, after they had departed, the
Mackenzies blew up the castle, leaving it very much
as you see it today.
Morton
Castle enjoys one of the most
breathtaking settings of any castle in Scotland.
Finding Morton Castle is an adventure in itself, as
there are no direction signs of any sort until your
are quite close. The key to finding it is to follow
the A702 north east from Carronbridge for 2km until
you reach the first right (ie east) turn off the
road. This is the first half of staggered
crossroads, and unsigned. Follow a very narrow road
steeply up a hill, crossing another very minor road
at a crossroads. The single track road you are
following has very few passing places. It leads you
round to the right on meeting the drive to a house,
and a little further on you find yourself at a
triangular junction. Your route, signposted at last,
is along what looks like little more than a track
ahead and slightly to the right. A little further
and you come to a junction with a broad forest road
on the right, where you can park. The path running
the final couple of hundred yards to Morton Castle
goes through the gate opposite. It seems further,
but the total road distance from the A702 junction
to the parking place is no more than 2km. A castle
was first built on this site by 1307, but it was
named as one of 13 castles in Nithsdale to be
dismantled under the terms of the 1357 Treaty of
Berwick between England and Scotland.
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As the
crow flies,
Smailholm Tower lies almost
exactly mid way between Melrose and Kelso.
Access is either from the village of
Smailholm, or from the B6404, four miles
north east of St Boswells. A minor road
leads you through the farmstead of
Sandyknowe and along a track past an old
millpond to the parking area for the tower.
From here you have a choice of steep or less
steep grassy paths for the final hundred
yards. Smailholm Tower certainly saw its
share of action... built about 1450,during
the 1540s it was attacked repeatedly by
English raiders.
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HAUNTED CASTLES OF
SCOTLAND
WITH hundreds of years of feuds, battles, murders,
curses and broken love affairs, it is no surprise
that Scottish castles have more than their fair
share of ghost stories. Whether or not you believe
them, the tales of Scotland's haunted castles throw
up some fascinating glimpses of the past. Glamis, Angus THE childhood home of the late Queen
Mother is sometimes claimed to be the most haunted
castle in Scotland. The Grey Lady of Glamis is said
to be the ghost of beautiful Janet Duncan, accused
of being a witch and tortured, then burned alive by
followers of King James V. Today she allegedly wafts
around the castle, praying - accompanied by loud
knocking noises. Glamis is also said to be haunted
by a serving maid who had her tongue cut out by the
fourth earl of Crawford. yelled at by a servant for
playing cards on Sunday, he cursed: "I'll play with
the devil himself until doomsday." He was engulfed
in flames and condemned to play cards for eternity.
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Stirling Castle BESIEGED by William Wallace and
Robert the Bruce, Stirling Castle has had a
singularly bloody history. It is reputedly haunted
by a Green Lady, a serving-maid to Mary, Queen of
Scots, who died saving her mistress when her bed
caught fire. Elphinstone Tower is said to house the
ghosts of conjoined twins held captive by James V
and used as an oracle, even after one of them died.
Many visitors also claim to have seen a ghost in
Highland dress, whom they mistake for a tour guide.
When they ask directions, he disappears.
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Hermiston Castle, Newcastleton THE ruined Hermiston
Castle in the Borders is said to be home to some of
the nastiest ghosts in Scotland. Sir William Soulis,
who plotted against Robert the Bruce, was said to be
a master of the black arts. "Bad Lord Soulis" had a
demonic helper called Robin Redpath, and was said to
kidnap local children to use their blood in rituals.
When the Bruce said "boil him if you must", the
locals took him at his word - and boiled him, head
first. His ghost is said to be accompanied by the
sound of weeping children. The ruins are also said
to be haunted by the groaning ghost of Sir Alexander
Ramsay, a 14th-century sheriff who was imprisoned in
the dungeons and starved to death.
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Balgonie Castle, Fife THE Laird of Balgonie, Raymond
Morris, claims there are nine ghosts, which are
"like part of the family". Since Morris moved to the
restored castle in 1985, he says, his son Stuart has
seen a ghost dog, a disembodied head and an old man.
Margaret, the Lady of Balgonie, says she woke
suddenly to see a man in 17th-century dress sitting
in her room. She later recognised him from a
portrait as the first Earl of Leven. Balgonie's most
famous ghost, Green Jeannie, was described as "a
well-known phantom" in the 19th century. She was
recently said to have been captured on film by a
wedding guest at the castle.
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Cawdor Castle FOURTEENTH-century Cawdor Castle is
associated with Macbeth, but was built too late to
have been the place of Duncan's murder. Two years
ago, two tourists reported seeing the figure of a
lady in blue velvet in the drawing-room, looking
longingly at the portrait of the first Baron Cawdor.
Castle historians say the apparition fits the
description of the baron's wife, the Lady Caroline.
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Brodick Castle, Arran AT LEAST three ghosts
reputedly haunt Brodick Castle, the ancestral seat
of the Hamiltons. A grey man is sometimes described
sitting in the library. A wailing woman is said to
be the ghost of a woman suffering from the Black
Death who was imprisoned in the dungeons and starved
to death, while a spectral white deer is said to run
through the grounds of the castle whenever the head
of the Hamiltons is close to death.
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Neidpath Castle, Peebles Scotland's most romantic
ghost is the Maid of Neidpath, who wanders Neidpath
Castle mourning a love lost. The Maid was Jean
Douglas, the only daughter of the Earl of March, she
was denied permission to marry a young man of the
Borders. She fell ill and, fearing for her life, her
father sent for the young Borderer, who galloped to
Neidpath "with loose rein and bloody spur". His love
watched from a window, but was so changed by illness
that the young man failed to recognise her.
Heartbroken, she died of grief and her ghost has
haunted the castle ever since. The maid is said to
be particularly disturbed by sounds of merriment and
it is claimed she has thrown tantrums lasting three
days.
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Fyvie Castle, by Turriff FYFIE CASTLE has an unhappy
history, said to be the result of a curse sent by
three weeping stones thrown into the grounds by
Thomas the Rhymer. One stone can be seen in the
castle today, but the others have never been found
and are believed to have brought bad luck to the
castle for generations. A phantom trumpeter is said
to be the ghost of Andrew Lammie, who died of grief
after a rich miller's daughter fell in love with him
and was beaten to death by her family. The Green
Lady who haunts the castle is said to be the ghost
of Lilias Drummond, starved to death by her husband,
who wanted to marry her cousin. Castle staff say she
leaves a scent of roses in her path.
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Crathes Castle, near Banchory BEAUTIFUL Crathes
Castle, built in the style of a French château in
the 16th century, was founded on heartbreak. Every
year, a ghostly figure is said to walk from the
island on Loch Leys to the grounds of Crathes. She
is said to be Bertha, who fell in love with
Alexander of Leys but was poisoned by his mother,
Agnes. When the girl's father arrived to collect his
daughter's body, Agnes screamed: "She comes, she
comes," and fell to the floor, dead. Alexander
decided to build a new family home at Crathes, but
the ghostly girl followed. Crathes also has a Green
Lady, who was seen by Queen Victoria, carrying a
baby in her arms. When the castle was renovated, the
skeletons of a woman and child were found beneath
the fireplace.
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Edinburgh Castle A FORTRESS for 800 years, and still
a military base today, Edinburgh Castle was used as
a prison for centuries. In the 18th century, one
desperate prisoner hid in a dung barrow, hoping to
be carried down the Royal Mile and escape to
freedom. The unfortunate man died when the barrow
was emptied down the rocky slopes of the castle.
Visitors say his ghost tries to shove them from the
battlements and is accompanied by a strong and
unpleasant smell of dung. The castle is also
reportedly haunted by a little drummer boy, the
ghost of a sweep sent to investigate a tunnel
beneath the castle. He was sent down carrying a toy
drum and never returned, but the drum can still be
heard, deep under the ground.
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MARCH 2007, residents of the village of
Braemar were celebrating after securing the lease of
imposing Braemar Castle, the ancient seat of the
Earls of Mar, in what is believed to be the first
community takeover of a castle in Scotland. In a
major boost for the village, which depends on
tourism for its survival, the Invercauld Estate,
owner of the 17th-century fortress, has agreed to
pass the castle into the hands of the local
community through a 50-year lease, secured at a
peppercorn rent. The villagers now need to raise the
£1.3 million needed to restore the building, once
the village's main tourist attraction, to its former
glory as a magnet for visitors to the area. The
lease has been secured by Braemar Community Ltd, a
commercial offshoot of the local community council.
The estate is now owned by a family trust
established by the present laird, Captain Alwyne
Farquharson. The castle was last open to tourists in
2005. It was one of my favourites as well! Paul.
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