Caisteal Uisdein

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View from the southeast

Caisteal Uisdein or Uisdean, also known as Hugh's Castle, the ruins of a fortified residential tower ( Tower House ) in Uig on the Scottish island of Skye . Only a heavily weathered stump remains of the tower built in the 16th or early 17th century.

description

inner space

The ruins of Caisteal Uisdein are located on the edge of a 14 m high cliff above Loch Snizort , a branch of the Strait of The Minch . The basalt rubble tower measures approx. 15 × 10 m in plan and is approx. 4.5 m high. The entrance was on the first floor at a height of approx. 2.7 m, the doorway is still clearly visible in the west wall. Traces in the approx. 2.1–2.7 m thick masonry show that a wooden beam ceiling was inserted. The remains of a fireplace in the north and window openings on the remaining walls can be found on the first floor . In contrast, there were only two loopholes on the ground floor , the north of which is the only access to the interior today.

How many floors were originally there can no longer be reconstructed. In the ground plan, however, Caisteal Uisdein is similar to the older Caisteal Maol in the east of the island, which may allow conclusions to be drawn about its earlier shape.

Although the ruin lies on agriculturally used private property, it is through the Scottish Right of freely accessible.

history

There are few reliable records of the history of the Caisteal Uisdein residential tower. Traditionally, the tower is associated with the person of Uistean mac Ghilleaspuig Chlerich ( anglicized to Hugh Macdonald ) of the Macdonald of Sleat clan . Around 1580 he wanted to overthrow and inherit his uncle (or cousin) Dòmhnall Gorm Mòr, the chief of the clan. Dòmhnall should have been locked in the specially built Caisteal Uisdein, which supposedly had neither windows nor doors and could only be entered via a ladder. However, the plan failed and Uistean fled to Dun an Sticir on North Uist . There he was arrested and, in turn, imprisoned in Duntulm Castle , where he was starved to death.

Both Uistean and his conspiracy against Dòmhnall are historically backed up. The alleged role of Caisteal Uisdein, on the other hand, can easily be refuted archaeologically, as it had doors and windows. Nevertheless, it has been passed down as part of Skye folklore to this day.

In 1999 Caisteal Uisdein was added to the list of Scheduled Monuments . In addition to the ruins of the residential tower, the listed area also includes the remains of the walls of three buildings a few meters to the north, which are probably of a later date.

literature

  • Roger Miket, David L. Roberts: The Mediaeval Castles of Skye and Lochalsh. Birlinn, Edinburgh 2007, ISBN 978-1-84158-613-7 , pp. 30-36.

Web links

Commons : Caisteal Uisdean  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on Caisteal Maol  in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland's database, accessed on May 9, 2020.
  2. ^ Entry by Caisteal Uisdein in the Schedule of Monuments (PDF, 249 kB). Retrieved September 15, 2017.

Coordinates: 57 ° 32 '17.9 "  N , 6 ° 22' 43.7"  W.