Rait Castle

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Ruins of Rait Castle
Ruins of Rait Castle in winter

Rait Castle is the ruin of a hall house just south of Nairn in the Scottish administrative division of Highland . The structure from the 13th century is considered a Scheduled Monument .

architecture

The remains of the courtyard walls are 2.7 meters high and also contain remains of Rait's Lady Chapel. The building had two floors and covered a floor space of 20 meters by 10 meters. The ground floor has a straight ceiling and above it is the knight's hall . The knight's hall was accessible from the outside via a staircase and secured by a portcullis and a pull rod. The walls of the house were almost six feet thick. A tower protrudes at one corner of the house and on the west side there is a toilet tower that protrudes nearly 3.9 meters.

history

The house was originally owned by the Comyn family , also known as the de Rait . Sir Alexander de Rait murdered the 3rd  Thane of Cawdor (clan chief of the Calders ) and then fled south, where he married the heiress of Hallgreen . The house then later passed from Clan Comyn to Clan Mackintosh and then to Clan Campbell of Cawdor .

In 1442, when the house was transferred from the Comyns to the Mackintoshs, a feast was held there for the two families that resulted in the slaughter of most of the Comyns. The laird accused his daughter of chasing all over the house. She climbed out a window, but the laird cut off her hands and she fell to her death. The house is said to be haunted by her spirit, which has no hands.

The Duke of Cumberland is believed to have stayed in the house from the Battle of Culloden in 1746, but the last documented evidence of the house is from 1596.

The American singer Bonnie Raitt is a descendant of the Rait clan and visited Rait Castle in 1990.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Martin Coventry: Castles of the Clans: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans . 2008. ISBN 978-1-899874-36-1 . P. 486.
  2. ↑ Scheduled Monument - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ^ Save Rait Castle . Save Rait Castle. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  4. ^ A b c Rait Castle - Architecture . Save Rait Castle. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  5. ↑ a b Entry on Rait Castle  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  6. ↑ a b c Stephen McKenzie: Haunted castle: The ruin with a colorful past . In: BBC News Online . May 14, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  7. ↑ a b c d Martin Coventry: Castles of the Clans: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans . 2008. ISBN 978-1-899874-36-1 . P. 383.
  8. ^ Hillel Italie: Bonnie Raitt discovers her roots . In: Lawrence Journal-World . Associated Press. July 14, 1991. Retrieved December 20, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Rait Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 57 ° 32 '57.8 "  N , 3 ° 50' 59.6"  W.