June 23, 2024
Behind the wheel and on the road, albeit, the left side of the road, I cautiously put it in gear and we're away from Edinburgh and off toward Inverness and Loch Ness. This portion of our holiday has been billed as a return to my ancestral homeland of Clan Grant. My son Grant (note the homage to our Scots lineage in his moniker) and I soon learn to coordinate well as navigator and driver; Grant using his iPhone map for directions and me, the driver, developing new skills for Scotland's roads.
We have an Airbnb for one night in Inverness, but since check-in is not until 15:00, we have a morning and all afternoon to get to our next castle tour, this one on the shores of Loch Ness.
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Castle Urquhart on Loch Ness, ancestral home to Clan Grant - ancestors of mine.
Castle Urquhart is a noble ruin with a rich history. In legend, St. Columba left the monastery on the Isle of Iona to travel as a Christian missionary to the Picts. Around 580 AD Columba was beckoned to minister to a dying Pict chieftain who likely breathed his last upon this rocky promontory where the castle now stands. Saint Columba told the chieftain that he was loved and accepted by God and he and his whole household were then baptized. The location of Castle Urquhart, with its view and command of Loch Ness was likely inhabited at least since the Iron Age. Edward I 'The Hammer of the Scots' captured these fortifications here in 1296. The castle changed from possession of the English to the Scots and back again. Clans McDonald and McLeod, Lords of the Western Isles, invaded these lands to extend their domain in defiance of royal rule. James IV needing to quell the power of the Western Isle Clans, gave a barony to Clan Grant to possess Castle Urquhart in 1509 with the stipulation that the Grants knock some heads, take names and collect taxes for the king as well as rebuild the castle. The Grants built a 5-story tower for their part of the improvements, which is now a prominent part of the ruin.
Clan Grant, being politically savvy to the shifting powers in Scotland, reset their allegiance from the Roman Catholic rule of the Stuarts to the prevailing Protestant William and Mary as rulers of the land. Years of Jacobite uprisings continually harassed and harried the Grants at Castle Urquhart as the Jacobite rebels fought to restore the Roman Catholic Stuart dynasty to the throne. Castle Urquhart lost its 5-star rating and lost its strategic significance and was costly to maintain; so in 1692 the last soldiers marched from the garrison and set 200 barrels of gunpowder at the gate, detonating the defensive bulwark of Castle Urquhart so it could never be used by the Jacobite forces to occupy and hold this territory in their claim to the throne. Son Grant was peeved at this story, "We had great lakeside property, only to deliberately blow it it to pieces and walk away. What a pity."
 A trebuchet, the medieval device used to throw large rocks at walled fortresses, was reconstructed a few years ago (21st Century) and was on display as we headed toward Castle Urquhart's shattered defenses. This rebuilt trebuchet was used to test the effectiveness and power of such a siege engine in the name of historical research.
 The high ground, site of the original Bronze Age settlement and fortifications  
   It was gorgeous weather and despite not even getting a family ownership discount on our tour tickets, we returned to the noble ruins to see and learn of what once was and had a grand afternoon among the partially reconstructed stone walls, rooms and towers.   Loch Ness looking northeast from Castle Urquhart There be monster here - maybe? |
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