Dunvegan Castle

Dunvegan Castle is a castle a mile and a half to the North of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, situated off the west coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland and has been the stronghold of the chiefs of the clan for nearly 800 years.



Originally designed to keep people out, it was first opened to visitors in 1933. Since then, the castle is consistently ranked as one of Scotland's premier visitor attractions.

Over the years, the castle has been visited by Sir Walter Scott, Dr Johnson, Queen Elizabeth II and the Japanese Emperor Akihito.

Math latha

Kilchurn Castle

So, lately I've been doing a lot of Chateaus and Fairytale Castles, which are all nice and good in their own way, but I wanted something different. Like a old stone ruin castle, a castle that actually looked like It'd seen some action. A real he-castle.

Okay, okay, it got creamed in a lightning storm, BUT IT LOOKS COOL!

I'm speaking of Kilchurn Castle, Loch Awe, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was built in about 1450 by Sir Colin Campbell, first Lord of Glenorchy, as a five story tower house with a courtyard defended by an outer wall. By about 1500 an additional range and a hall had been added to the south side of the castle.

Further buildings went up during the 16th and 17th centuries. Kilchurn was on a small island in Loch Awe scarcely larger than the castle itself, although it is now connected to the mainland as the water level was altered in 1817. The castle would have been accessed via an underwater or low lying causeway.

At the turn of the 16th century Kilchurn Castle was extended by Sir Duncan Campbell with the addition of a single story dining hall built along the inside of the south curtain. During the second half of the century, another Sir Colin Campbell, the 6th Laird, continued to improve the castle's accommodation by adding some chambers to the north of the tower house, and remodeling the parapet. This included the introduction of the circular corner turrets adorned by corbels, most of which have survived remarkably well.

Engraving of Kilchurch Castle by William Miller, 1846

Towards the end of the 16th century the Clan MacGregor of Glenstrae were occupying the castle. Once owning the lands of Glenorchy during the 14th century, until they passed through marriage to the Campbells, the MacGregors were appointed keepers to Kilchurn Castle as the Campbells spent much of their time at Fincharn.

This arrangement lasted until the very early part of the 17th century, when a violent feud between the two families brought it to an end and the Campbells retook possession. In 1681 Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy was made 1st Earl of Breadalbane. To take advantage of the turbulence of the times, he converted Kilchurn into a modern barracks, capable of housing 200 troops. His main addition was the three story L-shaped block along the north side.

In 1760 the castle was badly damaged by lightning and was completely abandoned; the remains of a turret of a tower, still resting upside-down in the center of the courtyard, attest to the violence of the storm. I wasn't kidding.

The ruin is currently in the care of Historic Scotland, and is open to the public during the summer.
Math latha.

Craigievar Castle

I hate realizing on Tuesday that tomorrow is Wednesday. But it almost always happens that way. It was late in the afternoon, almost 4:00 to be exact. My sister, Kae, would be coming home soon, and probably would be wanting her computer. I was hurriedly typing in the password to her computer and I thought, "Scotland!" I haven't done a post on a castle in Scotland! And I love Scotland! This had to be remedied. Soon. Now.

(So, whatchya think?)

Craigievar Castle is located six miles south of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was owned by Clan Sempill. An excellent example of the original Scottish Baronial architecture, the great seven-storey castle was completed in 1626 by the Aberdonian merchant William Forbes, ancestor to the "Forbes-Sempill family" and brother of the Bishop of Aberdeen. Forbes purchased the partially completed structure from the impoverished Mortimer family in the year 1610.


Forbes family resided here for 350 years until 1963, when the property was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland.



The castle originally had more defensive elements including a walled courtyard with four round towers; only one of the round towers remains today. In the arched door to that round tower are preserved the carved initials of Sir Thomas Forbes, William Forbes' son. There was also a massive iron yett or gate covering the entrance door.



You can read more about the place at:
http://www.aboutaberdeen.com/craigievarcastle.php

So, I find it a truly lovely castle, though, a wee bit Fairytale for me to like it 100%. But I do think it is wonderful.



Math latha. Scottish, good day.

Citadel and Fortress...

Dunnottar Castle, Scotland

Greetings, Friend, and salutations. I have been bloging (I don't like that word.) for several months now, on my other, main, blog, By Castle and River, which is devoted to almost all the things that I love. And now, as you see, I have a new, somewhat lesser blog, called Citadel and Fortress. It is devoted entirely to castles. I have high hopes that Citadel will be most informative and enjoyable. If this is starting to sound like a school text book, don't worry: it won't be.

Klis Fortress, Croatia

Anyhow, Citadel may look a bit pitiful right now, so, think of it as a little bird, a hatching with no feathers, yet. Give it time, my Friend, give it time and it will grow.

Mont Saint Michel Spire, France

Each post will be on a different castle and I hope, hope that is, to do a post roughly once a week. I think I just realized why I didn't do an "introduction post" on my other blog: I'm not very good at it. Fear not, though; I am better at writing when I know what I am saying and I will know, mostly, what I am saying when I am doing my posts.