Whispers of Urquhart: The Castle of Love and War (Scottish Folklore)

Consider supporting me on Patreon:   / liathwolf  

Over looking Scotland most famous body of water, loch ness, stand the ruins of what was once a great fortress of the aincent world, Castle Urquhart. It is told that a fortification has always stood on that very point, watching over the loch and being a renowned seat of power in the highlands. The first mention of such a fort comes from 562AD, when it was happened upon by Saint Colomba, during his Mission to convert the savage pictish tribes to Christianity. He writes that a man of much power and welth had built for himself a fort or large house hold, somewhere along the backs of the loch. These writings seem to be renforced by arceological finings which suggest the presence of a fort under, what is now the south west corner of the castle. Another suggestion is that the fort may have been the home of Bridei the 1st, king of the picts from 554 to 586.
The first mention of the castle as we now know it, was in the early 13th century, when the lands of Urquhart were granted to Tomhas Durward, a ward of the then king of Scotland Alexander the 2nd. It is believe that the castle was built by Durward and complete by his son. The first documented record of the castle is in 1296, when the great castle of Urquhart was captured by a man with many names in Scotland but for purely monitization reasons, I will call him Edward longshanks, king of England. Urquhart was lost in the first English invasion which marked the beginning of the sottish wars for independence. The castle changed sides a few times in the following years with segies and attacks by Andrew de moray the younger and Alexander de forbes, before it was eventually freed from English hands in 1307, when Robert the bruce, marched through the great glen taking all the castles surrounding the loch.

The castle then changed hands back and forth between the Scottish clans and the Macdonald, lords of the isles for some 300 years. It next appears in Scottish history during the revolution of 1688, when it was garrisoned Ludovic Grant and aile of william of orange and lay under seage by a force of 500 Jacobite soldiers, untill the main jacobite forse was defeted at cromdale. Eventually the castle would be left by the government soldires, but on there way out, they would leave explosives and destroy the castle, to prevented being occupied by the jacobite forces. But this plan did not entirely work, and soon 3 jacobe soldiers would find sanctuary, with in the ruins of this ainchent battlefield.

My T-shirt link: https://liath-wolf.myspreadshop.co.uk/

Music: Written for me by Bobbinhttps://bobbin.bandcamp.com/​

References:
Anderson, A. (1990) Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
Bridgland, Nick (2005). Urquhart Castle and the Great Glen. Historic Scotland. London: Batsford. ISBN 9780713487480.
Clan Urquhart Online (2022) A Romantic Love Story Of Eternal Love Told In The Lands Of Urquhart And Glenmoriston. Clanurquhartonline. [https://clanurquhart.org/a-romantic-l...]
Johncock, G. (2023) Urquhart Castle, The Guardian of the Great Glen. Hidden Scotland. [https://hiddenscotland.co/urquhart-ca...]
Katie & Catherine. (2021) Urquhart Castle Loch Ness. [https://www.truehighlands.com/urquhar...]
Mackenzie, A. (1872) Historical Tales and Legends of the Highlands. Inverness, A. & W. Mackenzie, Maclachlan and Stewart.
Magnusson, Magnus (2003). Scotland: The Story of a Nation. Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-3932-0
Roberts, John Leonard (2002). The Jacobite Wars: Scotland and the Military Campaigns of 1715 and 1745. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN: 978-1-902930-29-9