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Publication Account

Date 1985

Event ID 1018748

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1018748

Dunvegan Castle, the ancient seat of the MacLeods of Dunvegan and Harris, stands on a rock on the east shore of Loch Dunvegan, protected from the landward side by a deep gully. The oldest part is the keep, dating probably to the 14th century, a four-storey tower similar to those at Kisimul (no. 29), Caisteal Uisdein and Castle MaoL and was used as a dwelling as well as a defensive structure. As at Kisimul the original plan included a wall enclosing a courtyard, with the only entrance through the sea-gate. There is a well in the courtyard which belongs to this period. The tower has a small wing on the north-west gable. The barrelvaulted room at the base of the tower was originally a cellar, but later became the kitchen. At the same level in the wing is the dungeon, entered from the floor above by a trap door. The hall occupies the first floor of the tower.

In the 16th century Alasdair Crotach, whose elaborate tomb is in the church at Rodel (no. 49), built the 'Fairy Tower' within the south-east angle of the wall, providing further accommodation. In the 17th century the space between the two towers was built over by Rory Mori this house included a spacious dining-room and a library. By the late 17th century, the tower had fallen into disuse, and a wing was built onto the Fairy Tower.

Late in the 18th century, a further building was added, to the north-west of the tower, a barracks to hold men of the 2nd Battalion Black Watch which the General the 23rd Chief of the Clan MacLeod, was raising locally. Part of this now houses an exhibition including material about Clan MacLeod, local history, and St Kilda, which belonged to the family for several centuries. Amongst the items on view are the famous 'Fairy Flag', a silken banner of Eastern origin, said to have been given to one of the chiefs by a fairy and to provide magical protection for the clan when waved; and the Dunvegan Cup, a beaker of bog oak with mountings of silver and precious stones, and an inscription which dates from the later 15th century. The imposing front entrance was built early in the 19th century, and access was then possible from the landward side across a bridge. An old armorial panel was built into the porch. The tower was restored and modernised in the mid 19th century, when other alterations were made and the whole castle finished in the 'Baronial' style.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Argyll and the Western Isles’, (1985).

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