It’s easy to overlook, the ruin of Ardvreck Castle. Yet tragic stories cling to these walls – like that of MacLeod’s daughter.
MacLeod’s daughter fell far. She had thrown herself down from the tower of Ardvreck Castle. But it was her own father’s heartless betrayal that had driven her up there.
Her father was one of the chiefs of the MacLeods, rulers over the lands around Loch Assynt, back at the end of the 15th century. Together, the MacLeods, under their leader Angus Og III, had searched for a spot for a new castle. And they found an ideal place: a small peninsula jutting into Loch Assynt, surrounded by water on three sides and in the shadow of the imposing Quinag mountain. Protected so well by nature, the MacLeods could have been content. But they wanted more.
They wanted too much …
The MacLeods, it’s said, struck a pact with the devil: he himself would help build the castle, and in return he’d get one of the MacLeods’ daughters as his wife. And the devil agreed to the deal.
When Ardvreck Castle stood complete, he came to claim his bride, and the choice fell on Eimhir (pronounced roughly “Eeva”). When she learned who her bridegroom was to be, she fled, up onto the castle’s tower, from which she threw herself down.
Ardvreck Castle is said to have once been really quite large. Some even believe it had a walled garden, where flowers and fruit thrived. But it brought good fortune to only a few, and betrayal kept haunting its walls too. For instance, when the king’s loyal supporter James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, sought refuge at Ardvreck. Christine, wife of the absent Neil MacLeod, is said to have handed the fugitive over to his enemies, the Republicans. He was hanged, drawn and beheaded.
In 1672, fortune turned away from the MacLeods. Clan MacKenzie took the castle after a brief siege. They lived there for around a hundred years, until the sky itself sealed the castle’s fate in 1795. A single bolt of lightning was enough … one strike brought the castle crashing down.
Nobody ever rebuilt Ardvreck. Of the once-proud castle, only a small stump still rises mournfully out of the landscape of the West Highlands today.
And Eimhir, MacLeod’s daughter, who threw herself from the tower – what became of her?
Some claim she died in the fall and now haunts the ruins of the castle, together with the betrayed Marquess of Montrose. Others say Loch Assynt caught her mercifully and carried her down to a new home underwater. There, they say, she lives as a mermaid – and whenever the loch floods, it’s because MacLeod’s daughter has been weeping over her fate again …
Good to know: Calda House near Ardvreck Castle
By the time the castle was destroyed in 1795, the MacKenzies had already built a modern house nearby back in 1726. It stands just a few hundred metres away on the shore of Loch Assynt: Calda House. For its time it was a phenomenal building. Built symmetrically from imported sandstone, it rose three storeys high, with a double gable. Heated by a central fireplace, it offered far more comfort than Ardvreck Castle.
But the builders had overreached themselves financially, and so the MacKenzies’ property passed to the Earl of Sutherland. Before he could even move in, a fire destroyed Calda House in 1737 – rumour has it that locals started it, unwilling to see the new property go to the Sutherlands.
This story has one catch, though: it doesn’t explain the ghosts in Calda House.
This other tale about the fire does, however: the MacKenzies are said to have started a family celebration on a Saturday and kept partying on into Sunday. In doing so they broke the commandment to rest on the Sabbath. The fire broke out and killed everyone. Only a bagpiper, who had refused to play on the holy Sunday, survived. Everyone else is said to now haunt the house.
It’s now left to visitors themselves to decide which story they picture inside the building.
Tip: Visiting the ruin
When the water isn’t high on Loch Assynt, you can still walk out to the ruin today. There you’ll spot plenty of small details. But take care: the masonry is of course no longer stable, so watch out for falling stones.
Personal note: Red beach
Sadly I missed the chance to walk out onto the peninsula to Ardvreck Castle itself. But I spent a good while at the impressive Calda House – together with the sheep peacefully grazing there.
What impressed me most, though, was the reddish gravel beach on Loch Assynt below the house. That’s well worth a short visit.
Getting there:
From Durness in the north, first take the coastal A838 and then turn onto the A894, which continues along the coast. This road ends at Loch Assynt at a T-junction with the A837, coming from Lochinver. Turn right here towards Ullapool, then after a few hundred metres the ruin of Ardvreck appears on the right, followed later by Calda House. A large car park lies halfway between Ardvreck and Calda on the right-hand side. Everything is within walking distance.
From Ullapool, take the A835 towards Achiltibuie until you meet the A837. Turn left there and follow the road to Loch Assynt. Calda House appears on the left. You can continue on a little further until the large car park appears on the left.