Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1018736
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1018736
This impressive tower-house rises from a ridge that dominates the upper part of the Kilmartin Valley. The tower was built on the site of an earlier castle, and there may even be the remains of a small dun on the now grass-covered knoll immediately to the north-east. One of the latest of the tower-houses, it was built by a famous churchman John Carswelli he was superintendent of Argyll and the Isles in the Reformed Church from 1562 and was granted the bishopric of the Isles in 1567. Carswell was an influential figure in spreading the ideals of the Reformed religion in Argyll in the middle of the 16th century, and he published a Gaelic translation of the Book of Common Order or Knox's Liturgy in 1567i the first book to be printed in Gaelic, it contained the doctrines of the Presbyterian faith. The castle was built in the later 1560s under the patronage of the Earl of Argyll. The main hall was in the western wing of the castle, above the kitchen and storerooms, and the withdrawing room was on the same level on the first floor of the tower. This en suite arrangement is of some importance as it is thought to be transitional between castles and later mansionhouses, with the various rooms laid out in a horizontal rather than a vertical manner as in a traditional towerhouse. The main part of the tower is on five storeys with basal cellaragei the first-floor withdrawing room has a magnificent fireplace with finely carved surround and similar crisp detail round the doorways. The upper floors do not survive, but it is worth climbing to the upper parapet because there is a superb view down the valley. Only the shell of the western portion of the castle survives, but attractive outer string-mouldings still remain, as well as a rich provision of gun-loops and shot-holes.
The inscribed panel above the doorway reads in Gaelic Dia le ua nduibhne translated as 'God be with o Duibhne'; O Duibhne is one of the styles of the chief of the Campbells, though one that was not current in the 1560s, and its use here suggests a conscious antiquarianism on Carswell's part. The heraldic panel is a combination of those of Campbell of Argyll and the royal arms of Scotland, probably indicating the marriage of Archibald 5th Earl of Argyll and Jean, a daughter of James V; the panel thus underlines Carswell's allegiance to the earl.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Argyll and the Western Isles’, (1985).
