Lovely Ruins ~ Kilchurn Castle

Kilchurn Castle

15th Century
Loch Awe

The ferox rins in rough Loch Awe,

A weary cry frae ony toun;

The Spey, that loups o’er linn and fa’,

They praise a’ ither streams aboon;

They boast their braes o’ bonny doon:

Gie me to hear the ringing reel,

Where shilfas sing and cushats croon

By fair Tweedside, at Ashestiel!

We drove past the unmarked entrance to the small parking lot and had to backtrack. Fortunately, we found it, but only after asking a nice Scottish Lady who was doing some work out in her garden. With her help we located the parking area. There was also a little sign amongst the flowers with an arrow pointing to the castle path. 

Lovely Scottish lute for your journey ... 

With all the rain you had to watch your step but it made for lovely reflections and an incredible view of the castle on the horizon!

There’s Ettrick, Megget, Ale, and a’,

Where trout swim thick in May and June;

Ye’ll see them take in showers o’ snaw

Some blinking, cauldrife April noon:

Rax ower the palmer and march-broun,

And syne we’ll show a bonny creel,

In spring or simmer, late or soon,

By fair Tweedside, at Ashestiel!

I love that there are signs with information and illustrations of what the castle would have looked like!

There were no guards that we saw, or even tours, but just a few visitors here and there. It was quite peaceful and very quiet.

The ruined castle sits on Loch Awe, in Dalmally, which is in Argyll and Bute. It was built by the Clan Cambell, or to be more specific by Sir Colin Cambell, 1st Lord of Glenorchy. Kilchurn was the stronghold of the Cambells of Glenorchy from the mid 1400s until the late 1700s when it was abandoned.

from VisitScotland.com

"The castle comprised a five-storey tower-house at one corner of an irregular-shaped courtyard. The tower house still stands substantially complete, overshadowing the rest of the complex. On the ground level of the tower were a cellar and prison. There was a hall on the first floor and private chambers above."

There’s mony a water, great or sma’,

Gaes singing in his siller tune,

Through glen and heuch, and hope and shaw,

Beneath the sunlicht or the moon:

But set us in our fishing shoon

Between the Caddon burn and Peel,

And syne we’ll cross the heather broun

By fair Tweedside, at Ashestiel!

Envoi

Below, one of my favorite photos from the trip! It's calling me to paint it!

Deil tak the dirty trading loon

Wad gar the water ca’ his wheel,

And drift his dyes and poisons doun

By fair Tweedside, at Ashestiel!

~ By Andrew Lang 

(1844-1912)

In a strange way, I often like these ruined castles more than the perfectly kept ones that are still residences. Don't get me wrong, those are beautiful as well, but somehow the ruins enable the imagination to play and you feel more strongly the passage of time. 

On our way back up to Onich we drove past The Black Mount and Rannoch Mòr, then through the rain and Glencoe.

I fell madly in love with this area and would love to go back to hike through the magical hills and paint them en plein air! Maybe in May or June when it's slightly less rainy. 

The next day we had to say goodbye to our wonderful little place in Onich on Loch Linnhe. I felt as though it cast a spell on me!

We headed south toward Glasgow and low and behold, on a different road we caught another beautiful view of Kilchurn Castle.

Kilchurn is open to visitors from April 1st to September 30th and is open 9:30-5:30. I didn't see anyone around but someone must come and lock the gate. They also close for bad weather, and seeing how muddy it got around the entrance, I can see why.

Some of you might recall that I did a post I did about Leaky's Bookstore in Inverness. That was where I bought an etching that now hangs in my dining room.

It is yet another view of the ruins of Kilchurn Castle!

links
Kilchurn
Visit Scotland - Kilchurn Castle

Next up ... the road to Glasgow and finally ... Highland Cows!!!

Blessings and light!