Scotland Castles - Pictures of Scotland - Castle Stalker.

Scotland Castles, ruined or haunted are of great interest to the visitor. Pictures of Castles in Scotland are also a favourite subject, so here is another of Scotland's Castles to enjoy. This picture shows Castle Stalker silhouetted against the setting sun as it sets over the waters of Loch Laich and Loch Linnhe.

The castle sits on a small rocky Island at the mouth of Loch Laich, known as the Rock of the Cormorants, which is the battle cry of the Stewarts of Appin. It is believed that it may have been the site of a fortlice which belonged to the MacDougalls when they were Lords of Lorn. Around 1388 the Lordship of Lorn was passed to the Stewarts and so the castle came under their stewardship. The history of Scotland's Castles makes for great reading and Castle Stalke's is no different. In 1520 Sir Alexander Stewart was murdered by a party of Campbells whilst fishing. Legend has it that his baby son Donald was saved by his nurse, when she hid him from the Campbells. The young Donald became known as "Donald of the Hammers" as he could wield a blacksmiths hammer in each hand. In 1544 he raised the Stewarts of Appin and headed for Dunstaffnage where they killed nine Campbells in revenge for his fathers murder.Donald is buried on the nearby Island of Lismore.

The Stewarts of Appin were staunchly Jacobite and in the aftermath of the 1745 rising, the famous Appin murder took place. Colin Campbell of Glenure was murdered and two days later James Stewart ( James of the Glen ) was arrested. There seems no doubt that Stewart was innocent, the trial was rigged by the Campbells, who packed the jury of fifteen with eleven of their clansmen. In the words of Andrew Lang " James Stewart, to speak in plain words, was judicially murdered" Stewart and many of his kinsmen new who was responsible, but kept their secret and no one to this day is sure who the murderer was. This incident is immortalised by Robert Louis Stevenson in his novel 'Kidnapped'.

The area of Appin lies about halfway between Glencoe in the North and Oban in the South, so it's a great area for the visitor interested in the history of Scotland and is an area of outstanding beauty and a great area for wonderful seafood.

The map below shows the location of Castle Stalker, it sits in the bay opposite Portnacroish. For more information and details of visiting why don't you pay a visit to the website at www.castlestalker.com and to find out more about the Appin Murder visit.
www.stewartsociety.org

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.