Scottish Castles


Stiring Castle

Stirling Castle, built on the summit of a long-extinct volcano, dominated the lowest bridging point across the right Forth, an important strategic link between southern and northern Scotland, and the scene of many great battles. It was held by the English in 1297 and recaptured by William Wallace, only to be taken again by Edward I in 1304.

The ensuring battle for possession took place in 1314; Bruce’s opponent was no longer England’s ruthless soldier king but his weak son Edward II. Bruce was heavily outnumbered, but by attacking from dry, high ground, he left the English to flounder in the mud of the flood-plains of the Forth valley. One of the bigger threats was the fire-power of the feared English archers, but by using cavalry, Bruce crowded the English in on themselves, and severely restricted their ability to use their weapons. The English who attempted to escape were in danger of drowning in the river Forth, or in the Bannockburn after which the battle is named. Bruce dismantled much of the castle after his famous victory to ensure that his enemies would be unable to recapture it and exploit its important strategic position against his in the future.


Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle, like Stirling, is built on an extinct volcano. It dominates Princes Street and the picturesque streets of the city’s Old Town. There is evidence that it has been inhabited since the Iron Age, but its royal connections began when Malcolm III made Edinburgh his principal residence. Malcolm first married Ingibord, widow of the Norse Earl of the Orkneys, but after her death he married the saintly Margaret,great-niece of Edward the Confessor. Margaret died in the castle in 1093 after hearing that Malcolm and her eldest son had been killed in battle at Alnwick, and the tiny St. Margaret’s Chapel which is the earliest surviving part of the castle, was dedicated to her memory.

Edward I occupied the castle in 1296, but it was recaptured by the Scottish army in 1313 when the Earl of Moray, the nephew of Robert Bruce, scaled the rock and the castle walls with only thirty men to take the garrison.

During the Civil War in 1650 Oliver Cromwell’s troops captured the castle after bombarding it for three months. It surrendered again in 1689 to the Dutch Protestant William III after holding out for Catholic James VII of Scotland, the last of the Stuart kings. In 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie marched south with his Highlanders to the battle of Prestonpans he occupied the city and blockaded the castle. He failed to take it, and with their defeat and the collapse of their cause at the bloody battle at Culloden in 1746. Since then the castle has been visited by successive British monarchs, and houses the Crown Jewels of the Stuarts, known as the "Regalia" or the "Honours of Scotland".


Duart Castle

To the south on the Isle of Mull is Duart Castle, the ancient seat of the Clan Maclean. The original castle was built in the thirteenth century at Duart Bay in a commanding position overlooking the Sound of Mull, the Firth of Lorne and Loch Linnhe. In 1745 the castle was forfeited by the clan chief and not recovered by the family until 1911. It was then that work began to restore it to its present condition.


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