Olde Stonewall Castle

Who would've thought a castle was in your own backyard? More like an hour away, but close to home nonetheless.

The clan and I ventured to Ellwood City, PA to Olde Stonewall Castle and Shakespeare's Restaurant and Pub over Valentine's Day weekend. As if this historical author would pass up an opportunity to wander around a castle!

Sitting upon 269 acres and actually known for its golf course, Olde Stonewall was rated as one of the top 50 places to play golf in the USA. For me, the only interest I have in the sport is the miniature kind. I don't think dunking the ball into the treasure chest would quite fit in here.

Imposing wooden doors that are 12-feet high and weigh 800 pounds have matching intertwined gargoyle door handles. Once you enter the fortress, a 6-foot knight-in-shining-armor greets you in the entryway. Envisioning yourself in the 16th century, clouds are depicted upon the ceilings with medieval chandeliers casting their mystical glow. The owner has antiques displayed in corner nooks and along the walls, mostly which are imported from Spain.

Shakespeare's Restaurant and Pub has a delightful medieval theme. The waiters and waitresses dress in peasant tops--although no kilts are donned--to add to the European atmosphere. Hanging in the main dining room, chandeliers were recovered from former churches in the Pittsburgh area and restored. The food is outstanding and the choices vary from sandwiches to prime rib and lobster. The price fits anyone's budget.

The elevator takes you to the second floor which also boasts several antique rugs and medieval weaponry. Period pictures are also displayed in several additional banquet rooms.

Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to roam outdoors due to the weather, but there is a 20-foot oval water fountain and a flower garden in the back of the castle. We will definitely be returning in the summer months to enjoy the outdoors.

When Scotland is so far away, why not enjoy a Sunday drive to a castle that's so close to home?

Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle rests atop the high cliffs east of North Berwick. Sir William, first Earl of Douglas, built this castle in 1358.

The Douglas earls had been modest Lanarkshire landowners in the 12th century, but all of that changed with William's uncle, Sir James of Douglas. Nicknamed 'The Good,' he was very close with Robert the Bruce and that friendship gave way to rich rewards being passed to the family after Bruce became king. That included the barony of North Berwick.

Sir William created this castle which was the last great curtain-walled castle built from new in Scotland. Above the front door, Sir William placed a stone plaque. Although it is badly worn, the heart carved on it can still be made out. In its time, the heart would have been painted blood red. Sir William's adoption of the heart as the family's armorial device displays his indebtedness to his Uncle James, who had been entrusted by Bruce to carry his heart to the Holy Land. That heart remains at the heart of the Douglas coat of arms to this day. 

The most conspicuous feature of Tantallon is the red sandstone curtain wall. Although it has been battered not only by cannon but also by the winds and storms, this castle dominates the cliff side. Following Sir William's death in 1384, his widow Margaret, countess of Angus, rose some medieval controversy. Within four years, the mighty house of Douglas had split into two, the 'Black' and the 'Red.'

Tantallon passed to the Red Douglas earls and remained theirs for the rest of its days. It endured three sieges in its 300-year existence. 

Greenan Castle

Greenan Castle sits alone on a cliff top near the Heads of Ayr overlooking the rocks and the beach far below.

This tall and slender tower house is a familiar landmark in the views of Ayr Bay. Standing four stories high at the summit, pretty crow-stepped gables project the corner turrets as was the fashion in the early 17th century. The above-ground entrance has the initials 'J K' embedded in them, confirming that this house belonged to a Kennedy, a powerful Ayrshire clan. Beside the initials, the date 1603 shows it was among the last tower houses built in Scotland.

John Kennedy (not our John F. Kennedy) was the last in a long line to build defensively on the exposed headland. A short distance inland from the tower is the remains of four concentric lines. They are the remains of unfilled ditches and have not been investigated archaeologically. Similar sites identify them as being the defenses of a prior fort--before the Romans invaded. Another example of this is Ayrshire Castle, the hill on which Robert II built his tower house around 1380. It was first defended in the Bronze-age over 2000 years earlier.

About a mile away from Greenan Castle is a large stone said to be a marker of where the Pics and Scots signed a peace treaty.

Dunskey Castle

Atop an exposed, rocky point on the west coast of the Rhinns of Galloway stands grim Dunskey Castle. The treacherous waters of the North Channel roar below. Across the North Channel, the low hills of Antrim in Northern Ireland can be faintly seen.

The stronghold has a history as wild as this desolate spot. In 1489, the murderous McCullochs of Cardoness descended upon this place, plundering and burning it as vengeance for the murder of their kinsman by the Laird of Dunskey, William Adair.

As a result of this devastation, the Adairs built a new castle on the site. The oldest part of the present ruin dates to the early 16th century. It was later added to and re planned by Hugh Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery, Laird of Dunsky until his death in 1636. By 1684, the castle was declared 'ruinous.'

I don't know. It looks too cold and desolate for this writer's tastes. Besides, I'm sure there's a wee ghostie or two! Mmm... this could be inspiration for the next manuscript  ;)

Dunrobin Castle

Overlooking the North Sea, a walk from the town of Golspie, stands Dunrobin Castle.

The name Dun Robin means Robin's Hill or Fort in Gaelic. Dunrobin is a stately home located in Sutherland, in the Highlands of Scotland. The lands of Sutherland were acquired around the early 1200s by Hugh, Lord of Duffus, grandson of a Flemish nobleman. The castle was first recorded on this site in 1401.

George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquis of Stafford, 20th Earl and 2nd Duke of Sutherland, inherited Dunrobin in 1841. He financed the vast mansion that is there today. Almost everything there today dates from the 1840s, when the castle and gardens were redesigned by Sir Charles Barry. Barry had been the architect for the Palace of Westminster, home to the House of Commons.

Presently, there are 189 rooms, making it the largest house in the northern Highlands. Who wants to pitch in and buy it with me? If we get enough, maybe we could each have our own wing! Wouldn't that be nice for writing romantic inspiration?

I know my CP is going crazy now with all of those books!

Dunstaffnage Castle

Dunstaffnage Castle stands at the point where Loch Etive and the Firth of Lorn meet.

Dunstaffnage, the chief seat of Clan MacDougall, guarded the seaward approach from the firth via Loch Etire and the Pass of Brander into the heart of Scotland. When it was built around 1220, Argyll lay on the frontier between the kingdoms of Scotland and Norway. Neither king directly controlled the region. The sons of Somerled, 'King of the Isles', a man of mixed Gaelic and Norse parentage, took over their father's patrimony upon his death in 1164. The eldest, Dubhgall (Dougall), claimed his father's power base of Lorn, ruling over most of Argyll as well as the islands of Mull, Lismore, Kerrera, Scarba, Jura, Coll and Tiree. His son, Duncan MacDougall, Somerland's grandson, built Dunstaffnage Castle.

Sir Duncan MacDougall was a powerful lord with large forces and fleets at his disposal. He moved easily between the two realms competing for his loyalty.

The curtain wall of Dunstaffnage Castle rises up from an immense rock on which it sits. It is over 11 feet thick and almost entirely featureless. The two projecting round towers and gatehouse entrance were not part of the original.

Duncan's son, Ewan, inherited the lordship of Lorn in the 1240s. He became 'king' over all of the isles from Man to Lewis, then transferred his allegiance to Alexander III of Scotland. Ewen was succeeded by his son Alexander. His allegiance was with the English against Robert Bruce. In 1309, the forces of MacDougall and Bruce met on the battlefield. Bruce won, and the MacDougalls' defeat marked the end of their hold on power. The stronghold of the son of Somerled was now the property of the King of Scots. 

The castle was turned over to the Campbells in 1470. They added a gate entrance along with the gate tower for additional protection.

In 1745, Flora MacDonald was held prisoner in the prison tower after she helped Prince Charlie escape dressed as her maid.

Dunvegan Castle

Dunvegan Castle stands at the head of Loch Dunvegan, clan seat of the MacLeod chiefs from the early 13th century to present day. Dunvegan is the longest continuously occupied house in Scotland.

The oldest parts of the castle were the reconstructed seaward-facing curtain wall and sea gate. They were built by Leod himself, who lorded it over northern Skye and the Outer Hebrides under his king, Haakon IV of Norway. Through the centuries, other parts were added to the stronghold, such as the great tower to the right of the main entrance, and the 'fairy tower' to the left of the main entrance.

Alasdair Crotach MacLeod was the eighth chief. He also built himself a tomb in St. Clement's Church at Rodel, across the Minch on Harris, mountains of which are visible from Dunvegan.

More parts were added and changed over the centuries. In 1790, Lord and Lady MacLeod hired architect Walter Boak to convert the decrepit medieval castle into a modern mansion. Over the next fifty years, some parts were taken down, heightened, larger windows were put in and mock embattled parapets put on. The most significant change was a new, much grander, main entrance facing the land.

This is what welcomes visitors today. In MacLeod's day, there would have been no front door facing the land and visitors would have arrived at the old sea gate, by boat.

I don't think modern day Dunvegan looks too shabby! Verra nice!

Caerlaverock Castle

Caerlaverock Castle stands on the very edge of Scotland where the swift-flowing waters of the River Nith enter the salt marches of the Solway Firth. The Dumfriesshire countryside lies to the north. 

For over 400 years, from around 1220 up to the castle's last siege in 1640, the powerful Maxwell lords held sway from the mighty castle.

The name Caerlaverock means 'fort of the skylark' and derives from the British word caer 'fort', from the Latin castra and the Old English laewerce 'lark'. In the mid-12th century, when Dumfriesshire and Cumberland were under one ruler, David I of Scotland, Radulph son of Dunegal, lord of Strath Nith, granted lands to the monks. After the death of King David, Sir John de Maccuswell (Maxwell) came into play.

Caerlaverock has not one, but two medieval castles. The older of the two was built by the Maxwell's soon after they arrived in the region in the 1220's. Archaeologists believe the first castle had been built too close to the salt marsh of the Solway Firth and became unstable and prone to flooding.

The second castle was quite different from its predecessor. It was triangular in plan and its shape is as a shield.

Oh, the beautiful rolling moors of Scotland....

St Andrews Castle

The city of St Andrews was the headquarters of the Scottish church in the middle ages. Its great cathedral was the largest in the land and the castle, among the strongest of fortresses. The castle was the setting for many important events.

In March, 1309, Robert the Bruce stayed there while presiding over his first Parliament. James I received his education there as did his son, James II.

Little remains of the stone castle today that was built by Bishop Roger around 1200. The present complex dates from the late 14th century.

Bishop Trail (1385-1401) rebuilt, but his residence was subsequently altered, mostly during the first half of the 16th century, a time of growing tension between church and state.

A crisis began upon the death of Archbishop Alexander, illegitimate son of King James IV, on the battlefield of Flodden in 1513. His untimely death led to a scramble. The victor, Archbishop Forman, was swiftly succeeded by Archbishop James Beaton. He transformed Bishop Trail's castle into a formidable artillery fortress with towers bristling with guns.

In 1538, James Beaton had been succeeded by his nephew, David Beaton, who later became a cardinal. He rejected Protestantism and was unyielding in his opposition to the proposed marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the son of Henry VIII of England.

In March 1546, Beaton had the Protestant preacher burned at the stake, right in front of his castle. This act only made him more enemies. A band of Protestant lairds contrived to get into his fortress disguised as stonemasons. Once they got into the fortress, they seized and murdered the cardinal, dangling his naked corpse from the battlements.

The cardinal's murder was the beginning of Scottish Reformation.

Miramont Castle

As my close friends will undoubtedly attest, I have a fascination and addiction to everything Scotland. No, really. It's true! *smile*

Scotland is rich in history and its beauty is unsurpassed. Magnificent castles grace the rolling green countryside and are a staple of everything that is Scotland. From Edinburgh Castle to Eilean Donan Castle, the massive stone structures are rich in history and intrigue. If only the walls could talk!

Did you know there are plenty of historic castles within the United States to investigate and explore? USA Castles should not be overlooked and provide a vast array of history.

My dh and I had the pleasure of touring such a castle in Manitou Springs, CO. Miramont Castle is a must-see for any historical lover.

Jean Baptiste Francolon was a Catholic priest born in Clermont, France in 1854. He was the son of a wealthy diplomat.

In 1878, he was summoned by Bishop Lamy to travel to Sante Fe, NM, where he became the Bishop's secretary.

In the early 1890's, Father Francolon suffered an ailment. He was transferred to Manitou Springs in the hopes that the many mineral waters the area provided would restore his health. 

He began planning the Castle's construction and intended the structure to be a home he could share with his mother, Marie. It was to be called Miramont, meaning "look at (or see) the mountain."

The Castle was completed in 1896 and had running water and electricity. All of the comforts of home!

The Castle was adorned with many wealthy furnishings including a mahogany table inlaid with jewels, tapestries, oils, statuary, antique investments and laces.

There are nine distinct architectural designs within the Castle: Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish, English Tudor, shingle-style Queen Anne, Flemish stepped gables, domestic Elizabethan, Venetian Ogee and half-timber Chateau. Father Francolon had apparently collected ideas from his early years of traveling the world with his father.

The Castle is built on four levels which boasts 14,000 square feet and 46 rooms. It has five fireplaces, the largest being sixteen feet wide and weighing 400,000 pounds.

An addition was made to the Castle sometime after its completion in 1896, but no records have been located in order to verify the date. The newer part of the Castle added a chapel, grand staircase and solarium. Pictures do not compliment the architecture of the Castle.

Miramont Castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 3, 1977.

If you are traveling to the Colorado Springs area, place Miramont Castle on the top of your list.