Kilravock Castle (pronounced ''Kilrawk''
) is located near the village of
Croy, between
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
and
Nairn
Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...
, in the council area of
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. It was begun around 1460 and has been the seat of the
Clan Rose
Clan Rose (''Clann Ròs'') is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands.
History Origins of the clan
The chiefs of the Clan Rose were a Norman family. They had no connection to the ancient Celtic family of Clan Ross. They derive from Ros, near ...
since that time. The castle is a composite of a 15th-century
tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
and several later additions. The original name for the castle was ''Cill Rathaig'';
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
meaning "church at the small circular fort".
History
The lands were owned by the Boscoe family and it passed via marriage of Andrew Boscoe to his wife Elizabeth Bissett of the
Bissett family in the 12th century, after Bosco's death his widow then deposed the lands via marriage of their daughter Mary Boscoe to Hugh II de Ros of the
Rose family
Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera.
The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are '' Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...
in the 13th century. In 1293 the Roses were created
by
John Balliol
John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...
.
Its
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
dates from around 1460, when the then Baron of Kilravock was granted a licence to build by the
Lord of the Isles
The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles
( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title w ...
.
This was extended in the 17th century, with the addition of a square stair tower, and the south range. The north and west sides of the quadrangle were added later.
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
, was received at the castle in 1562. A blacksmith in
Elgin called George Robertson made a new iron
yett
A yett (from the Old English and Scots language word for "gate") is a gate or grille of latticed wrought iron bars used for defensive purposes in castles and tower houses. Unlike a portcullis, which is raised and lowered vertically using mecha ...
for the great tower at Kilravock in February 1568.
Prince
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...
was entertained four days before the
battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...
. His enemy, the
Duke of Cumberland
Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland.
History
The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...
, visited soon after the battle, and
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
came here in September 1787.
It is a Category A
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, and is no longer occupied by the Rose Clan.
The Castle is no longer part of the Rose Clan estate, in 1984 the Castle was transferred to a charitable Christian Trust.
It was operated as
bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...
accommodation for a while, but is no longer open to the public.
The Rose family
Kilravock Castle has been continuously tenanted by the
Roses
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...
, a family of Norman origin. They settled at Kilravock in 1293, since which date son has succeeded father without the interposition of a collateral heir, an instance of direct descent unique in Scottish history.
Moreover, many Roses have borne the Christian name of Hugh, and only one attained to a higher social rank than that of
laird
Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...
. The Chief of the Clan Rose, Anna Elizabeth Emily Guillemard Rose, 25th of Kilravock died peacefully, at Nairn on 9 December 2012, aged 88 years.
The Lord Lyon recognized David Hugh Heriot Baird Rose (27 Feb 1946- ), the nephew of Elizabeth Rose as Chief of Clan Rose and the 26th Baron of Kilravock in June 2013.
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Kilravock Castle web site
{{coord, 57, 31, 10, N, 3, 58, 56, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title
Castles in Highland (council area)
County of Nairn
Category A listed buildings in Highland (council area)
Listed castles in Scotland
Clan Rose