Castle Urquhart, Loch Ness, Scotland May 2008

© 2008 Above Tree Line Images

Castle Urquhart on the shore of LochNess is one of the oldest castle sites in Scotland. It is believed that St. Columba, on a trip to convert the local Picts to Christianity, noted fortifications on this site in the 4th century A.D. The castle wrested back and forth during the Wars of Independence with England's Edward I. William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and the Comyns fought for the castle during these wars in the 13th and 14th centuries. It was also pivotal when the Lords of the Isles fought for the region during the 14th through 16th centuries. In the 17th century, two setbacks finished the castle, its sacking by Covenanters in 1644 and its final destruction in 1690 by its own garrison of Highlanders loyal to William and Mary as they left after the Jacobites were defeated.