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MHG2583 - Castle, Eilean an Righ

Summary

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Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

As decribed.
Visited by OS (R D) 14 October 1965.

The remains of the supposed Hunting Lodge consist of the greater part of the SE wall of a rectangular building, which from ground levels and the spread of fallen stone, is gauged to have measured internally about 28.0m NE-SW by 5.0m transversely.
The existing wall of mortared rubble masonry is 1.6m thick and of a maximum height of about 3.3m. The doorway, 1.1m wide, is equipped with door slots and bar-holes. Further west, are remains of two splayed voids.
Condition - ruinous
Eilean n'Cone (at NN 502 876 - NN58NW) is little more than a heap of loose stones and boulders and no trace of walling was found.
Visited by OS (A S P) 9 July 1961.


'In the middle of Loch Laggan are two islands... on the larger are the side walls still remaining of a very ancient building, made of common round stones but cemented with mortar. This is said to be the place where the kings of Dunkeld retired from hunting and feasted on their game. On the neighbouring island, which is called Eilan n'Cone, or, the Island of Dogs, and said to be the place where their hounds were confined, is also a wall standing of a similar building' (OSA 1792).
In 1934 Loch Laggan was lowered some 16', an event which prompted a certain amount of correspondence between interested parties. An article by Stuart Maxwell based on the old Statistical Account, newspaper clippings, and this correspondence lists various items found on the larger island without coming to any definite conclusion. The finds included fragments of wheel turned clay vessels, a wooden dish and a wooden vessel; also pieces of sewn leather shoes and probably some cloth fragments. All that now remains of these items is a sherd of wheel turned medieval pottery, fire blackened on two edges, and the cloth. Of the building itself very little definite is said beyond the fact that island on which it stands is natural rock and not a crannog. The door which was placed in a difficult position must have been reached by wooden steps and it was secured by a log let into sockets in the rock. Fragments of a carved cupboard panel of possible c.1500 date were found; also some heavily mortised beams; a roof covering of shovel shaped turves, fixed down with wooden pegs. A large quantity of heavily fired clay wattle was found among the charred beams and stone and mortar rubble of the building. According to one source this points to a former clay-built castle on the site, or much earlier occupation, but another merely interpreted it as 'a stone and lime building built on top of an older and more primitive dwelling which had apparently been burned." Quite a number of dug out canoes came to light in the Loch as a result of the 1934 and later lowerings (see NN58NW 3-5: NN48SE 1, 2) including one on Kings Fergus's Island. Also found on the island were fragments of a clinker-built boat, now preserved in the National Museum of Antiquities, and date to c.700-1500 A.D - early rather than late (Maxwell 1953).
OSA 1792; S Maxwell 1953.

For (1934) discovery of frame-built boat, see NN48NE 4

King Fergus's Hunting Lodge (NR) (Supposed remains of)
OS 6" map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NN 4986 8755 (300m by 300m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NN48NE
Civil Parish	LAGGAN
Geographical Area	BADENOCH AND STRATHSPEY

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