INSIDE Cawdor Castle

[ALL TEXT on this page was stolen from the Cawdor Castle Website!
Much of it is a HOOT! There’s more fun info available on the Castle Website.]

Cawdor Castle dates from the late 14th century and was built as a private fortress by the Thanes of Cawdor. The ancient medieval tower was built around the legendary holly-tree.
The Thorn Tree Room, a stout vault, was the ground floor guardroom of the tower, and protected the approaches to the drawbridge. A secret dungeon is concealed in the thickness of the end wall.

The legendary tale goes that the Thane of Cawdor, who had a small castle about a mile away, decided to build a new, stronger tower. Following the instructions received in a dream, he loaded a coffer of gold on to the back of a donkey and let it roam about the district for a day: wherever the animal lay down to rest in the evening, there his castle should be sited and it would prosper for evermore. The donkey lay down under the tree. Whatever truth there may be in the story, modern scientific dating of the wood of the tree by radiocarbon measurement gives the approximate date of AD 1372. For centuries, the tree has been regarded as a hawthorn [Crataegus monogyna], but in this respect the legend has gone adrift, because microscopic analysis of the wood identifies the tree as a holly [llex aquifolium].

The Thorn Tree Room

Although the House has evolved over 600 years, later additions mainly of the 17th century were all built in the Scottish vernacular style with slated roofs over walls and crow-stepped gables of mellow local stone. This style gives Cawdor a strong sense of unity, and the massive, severe exterior belies an intimate interior that gives the place a surprisingly personal, friendly atmosphere. Good furniture, fine portraits and pictures, interesting objects and outstanding tapestries are arranged to please the family rather than to echo fashion or impress.

Cawdor Drawing Room

This, the great hall of the castle, dates from the 16th century or before, and has been frequently remodelled, the last major alteration being the insertion of the plain, splendid fireplace in 1684, embellished with the Calder family emblems of the stag's head and buckle. (Calder was an old spelling of Cawdor.) At the opposite end of the room is a minstrel's gallery.

This, the best bedroom above the great hall, forms part of the 17th century's civilizing additions to the

castle. The four-poster was the marriage-bed of Sir Hugh Campbell and Lady Henrietta Stuart (Lord Moray's sister) whose wedding took place nearby at Darnaway Castle [q.v.] in 1662. The gilded and silvered Venetian headboard is original but the bedstock timbers have been replaced, for instance the oak posts are dated 1857. The Flemish tapestries, a type once known as arras hangings, are woven from wool and silk. The panels were ordered from Oudenaarde (now in Belgium) to fit out the room, and are hung directly over the unplastered stone walls for warmth and decoration.

The Tapestry Bedroom

Well, SHOOT. You can’t see the Dining Room’s fireplace in this pic! But, it’s a good story:]

The Dining Room

The stone fireplace was installed on 13 April 1671, not without difficulty: ...This day there did fallout a remarkable accident, never to be forgotten. The drawbridge at Cawdor fell, carrying in a great stone, and with it 24 men, and the Laird himself. Some were hurt... so recorded Brodie of Brodie in his diary.

The old kitchen was in active use between 1640 and 1938. It is a beautiful room rather than every housewife's dream. The well is dug straight into the Old Red Sandstone rock on which the Castle is founded and out of which it is constructed. The rock strata dips towards the west, and through it, both summer and winter, the water permeates - keeping the well charged within six feet of spring water. The amazing cooking range is 19th century, and the contraption above is the gearing for a spit: a rotator (one of the few English words, Madam, that is a palindrome) was moved by a fan in the flue. In 1760 it was the very latest thing and was, at least in theory, automatic because the hotter the fire became, the quicker the meat turned.

The Old Kitchen

Next DAY SIX Pix Options (in order of trip occurrence):
Cawdor Tavern
Scottish Youth Hostel

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