Scottish Castles
Please choose one of the Castles.
C
Castle Campbell - Castle Campbell located in Dollar Glen in the Ochil Hills was the chief Lowland stronghold of the Campbell Earls of Argyle from the fifteenth century until the castle was burned in 1654. It was built for security, to look impressive as a conspicuous statement of the wealth and power of the lord within, and to provide the accommodation required by a member of the senior nobility within easy reach of the royal castles at Stirling and Edinburgh.
Crathes Castle - Crathes Castle is a fine sixteenth century tower house. The Horn of Leys in the High Hall is the token bestowing the land on the Burnett family given to them in 1323 by Robert the Bruce following Bannockburn. The painted ceilings, covered over when plasterwork became the fashion, are now restored and are some of the best examples in existence.
D
Dunnottar Castle - Dunnottar Castle is set on a promontory with sheer cliffs above the North Sea on three sides. It was the last castle to remain in Royalist hands during the Commonwealth and during an eight month siege in 1651-1652 by Cromwell's troops, the Scottish crown, scepter, and sword were smuggled out and hidden.
E
Edzell Castle - Edzell Castle was built in the sixteenth century and its formal walled garden was laid out in 1604 by Sir David Lindsay. The garden is the product of Renaissance ideas. The sculptured wall panels portray the Planetary Dieties, the Liberal Arts, and the Cardinal Virtues. The hedges spell out the Lindsay motto, "Dum spiro spero" (while I breathe I hope).
S
Stirling Castle - Stirling Castle was attacked and counterattacked by both the English and the Scots during the wars of independence. Under the Stuarts, Stirling Castle became a permanent royal residence. James III (1451-1488) built the Great Hall as a meeting place for Parliament and other state occasions. James IV, a renaissance prince and contemporary of Henry VIII and Francois I, initiated building of the Palace Block and James V finished the building of the Palace. His daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), was crowned in the Chapel Royal in 1543. Her son, James VI, rebuilt the Chapel Royal for the baptism of his own son, Prince Henry, in 1594. With the accession of James VI to the throne of England in 1603, Stirling ceased to be a royal residence. A new display shows how the castle kitchen would have functioned in the sixteenth century. Elevations in the King's Knot seen from the castle show traces of a formal garden, perhaps dating from 1628.
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