When it comes to dark history, Rait Castle has it all: a tale of forbidden love, two feuding families, a banquet treacherously planned with murder in mind, a betrayal, a massacre and a ghost known as the ‘Wraith of Rait’. The ruined remains of this 14th Century building are a fine example of a Hall [...]
The crowds gathered at Chanonry Point, a spit of land which extends into the Moray Firth, between the Black Isle towns of Fortrose and Rosemarkie. The curse proclaiming the downfall of the house of Seaforth was still ringing in their ears. Isabella, Countess of Seaforth, was undeterred. She would have her revenge upon the man [...]
Drummossie Moor, otherwise known as Culloden Moor, is a cold, desolate place. A relentless cold wind tugs at the flags which delineate the battle lines on the site of the last pitched battle to be fought on British soil. It is a cold wind which seeps deep into your bones. Or is it the wind [...]
Isobel Gowdie was a difficult assignment for us. Spooky Scotland has taken us to many haunted destinations. However, it seems that we pass through Auldearn on a regular occurrence to get to many other spooky sites: Cawdor Castle, Rait Castle, the Clava Cairns and Culloden Moor to name a few. On the surface, Auldearn appears [...]
Eilean Donan lies in one of the most scenic spots in Scotland. Built on an island, where Loch Duich, Long Long and Loch Alsh meet, it was once the site of an Iron Age vitrified fort, built by the Picts. It takes its name from a Gaelic Priest, Saint Donnán of Eigg who lived around [...]
From before the dawn of history, the early ancestors of the people we now know as the Scots, built impressive monuments which have caught the imagination of those who have followed in their wake. Stone circles, chambered cairns, brochs and vitrified forts stir within us something primeval and stories have been born from their mystical [...]
Murder! Massacre! Betrayal! Treason! Glencoe is one of the most spectacular areas of unspoiled wilderness in Scotland. There is a haunting quality about the moor-clad mountains that stand as sentinels over the eight-mile long glen which runs from east to west along the northern border of Argyll. And there are those who say that the [...]
Immortalised by Shakespeare in his play ‘Macbeth’, built around a holly tree and haunted by an apparition said to be the ghost of an heiress once kidnapped by one of the most powerful families in Scotland, Cawdor Castle lies in a peaceful location which belies its dramatic and intriguing past. Nestled in the heart of [...]
Betrayals and Besiege! Nestled between the shores of Loch Assynt and the looming peaks of the Quinag, Ardvreck Castle (Caisteal Àrd Bhric in Gaelic) in the Scottish Highlands was once home to the MacLeods of Assynt. It is an achingly beautiful part of Scotland with mountain faces of sheer rock and bleak moorland interspaced with [...]
Down through the ages, Scottish graveyards or kirkyards have had a variety of uses other than laying our dear departed to rest. This includes the following: being used as market places, being used as prisons, wappenschaws, weapons practice, feeding grounds for animals and inspiration for writers such as Charles Dickens and J K Rowling. [...]