Eilean Donan
The beginnings of Eilean Donan reach back into ancient times. Evidence of a Pictish fort was found in vitrified rock uncovered during excavations. At the beginning of the seventh century Saint Donan (Celtic missionary saints from the fifth century) lived on the island as a religious hermit: the name "Eilean Donan" means the "Island of Donan". This is the period when Christianity was first introduced to the Western Isles.
The first fortified stronghold was established in the reign of Alexander II (1214-1250). In 1263 Alexander III. gave the Castle to Colin Fitzgerald, son of the Earl of Desmond and Kildare (later to become MacKenzies) as a reward for services in the battle of Largs. This famous battle culminated in the defeat of the Norwegian king, Hakon. Following his death shortly after, his successor, Magnus, ceded all the Western Isles to Scotland.
Hide-Out For Robert The Bruce
Traditionally, it is believed that in the early part of the fourteenth century Robert the Bruce, out of favour with many of the clan chiefs as well as being hunted by the English, was given refuge in Eilean Donan Castle by John MacKenzie, Second of Kintail. Later, in 1331, the fortunes of Robert the Bruce had changed: he had defeated his enemies and established his position as King of Scotland. He sent his nephew, Randolph, Earl of Moray and Warden of Scotland to Kintail.
Scant respect for the law was being shown by the region, and if it was here that Randolph's "Crownare" - crown officer - beheaded fifty local misdoers and exibited their heads around the battlements of Eilean Donan Castle as a grim warning to others.
The MacRaes, who formed the bodyguard of the Chief of Kintail and were known as "MacKenzies Coat of Mail" first became Constables of the Castle in 1509. They took control of the area and the Clan was involved in many raids and sieges. One such epic occasion occurred in 1539 when Donald Gorm, a Lord of the Isles, lead 400 warriors in an attack on the Castle. The Acting Constable, Duncan MacRae, withstood the assault; he successfully defended the castle and, with his last arrow, fatally wounded Donald Gorm, Lord of Sleat.
The Spanish Headquarters At Eilean
In 1719, at the time of an unsuccessful Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, the Spanish, who were assisting the Jacobites, sent an expeditionary force to Scotland and set up their headquarters at Eilean Donan. On 10th May, 1719, three English frigates, Worcester, Enterprise and Flamborough, under the command of Captain Boyle, sailed into Loch Alsh and attacked Eilean Donan. The Castle, defended by only forty-eight Spaniards commanded by a Captain and Lieutenant, fell after a short bombardment to superior artillery fire, and the Spanish soldiers surrendered. Taken aboard the frigates, the Spanish soldiers were shipped back to Leith and imprisoned there. The rising ended one month later on 10th June with the defeat of the Jacobites (poorly provisioned and armed) at the Battle of Glen Shiel.
The castle lay in ruins for almost 200 years following the attack. With the help of Farquhar Macrae who had seen a vision of the castle restored to its former glory, Lt. Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap rebuilt the castle (1912-1932) at a cost of 250,000 pounds. In some parts of the castle, the walls are up to fourteen feet thick, and the barrel-vaulted ceiling of the Billeting Room, built by Farquhar Macrae, are two and a half feet thick at the centre. The look of the present structure was also confirmed by old plans of the castle preserved with other records in Edinburgh Castle.
Eilean Donan Castle is now owned by the Conchra Charitable Trust and is maintained for the public at large. Although the trustees, Mrs. Marigold Macrae and Baroness Miranda van Lynden, have discretion as to use for special events and still use the castle on occasion, tourists are able to view the Billeting Room, Banqueting Hall, Kitchen and other sections as they are opened to the public.
The castle has been used often as a shooting location for movies The most prominent movies shot at Eilean Castle are most probably “Highlander”, featuring Christopher Lambert, and Sean Connery, and the James Bond movie “The World Is Not Enough” starring Pierce Brosnan and Sophie Marceau.
Urquhart Castle
Loch Ness cuts a great divide along what is called Glen Mor, or The Great Glen, a 60 mile fissure scoured by glaciers during the last ice age. The Loch itself is over 700 feet deep, and the nearby surrounding hills rise by about the same amount. At the north east end, where the waters of the loch flow along the River Ness through Inverness and into the North Sea, is the flatter and more fertile land of Moray.
In 1228 the people of Moray rose up against the authority of King Alexander II (1198 - 1249). By 1230 he had put down the revolt and, as conquerors often do, established his own loyal men in charge of estates in the area. He granted his son-in-law Alan Durward the lordship of Urquhart, and it is almost certain that the earliest parts of medieval castle date from his time. After his death in 1275 the castle passed to John Comyn, appointed by Edward I of England. After a series of humiliating defeats John Balliol (1250 - 1296) had relinquished his kingship, and much of Scotland and many of its castles, including Urquhart, were under English control.
In 1297 Andrew Moray of Moray led a night-time attack on the castle which failed, but sometime later Sir Alexander Forbes retook it for Scotland.
But that wasn't the end of it; in 1303 Edward again conquered the castle, but his garrison under Alexander Comyn of Badenoch was soon annihilated by Robert the Bruce who was to be crowned King of Scotland in 1306.
The Scottish Crown Takes Over
By 1346 ownership of the castle passed from the Earls of Moray back to the Scottish Crown again, and it seems likely that with Crown money much substantial building and repair was completed at this time.
Throughout the end of the 1300's and well into the 1400's Castle Urquhart fell again and again to Clan MacDonald, Lords of the Isles only to be retaken again and again by the Crown.
The only consequence was the suffering and devastation of the ordinary people living in the Great Glen. Eventually the MacDonald's power was temporarily curbed in this area and for about 35 years the Grants of Freuchie looked after the castle on behalf of the Gordons of Huntly. But soon the MacDonalds were back; in the 1500's they besieged it twice, again leaving the ordinary local inhabitants of the Glen dead and devastated.
Abandoned By The Grants
By the 1600's the castle was abandoned by the Grants to the people of the Glen. Those walls which had for so long been a cause of suffering to them, now became their comfort as they dismantled masonry and removed stones to build their own houses.
Finally, in 1689 when the last Stewart King, James II of England and VII of Scotland, was exiled, one Captain Grant and 300 Highlanders saw off a force of James's supporters. The garrison left the ruins in 1692. The castle was not repaired, and about 25 years later it was reported that a "Storme of Wind had blown down the south west side of the main tower house.
Today, the castle is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, and run by Historic Scotland.
Today, the castle is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, and run by Historic Scotland.