Castle
History
When Mary Queen of Scots came back to Scotland in 1561, after
the death of her husband, the Dauphin in France, she gave land
to her half-brother James Stuart, granted him the title "Earl
of Moray" and he ruled Scotland as regent for her.
Unfortunately
both he and the 2nd Earl of Moray were murdered and thus Castle
Stuart was completed in 1625 by James Stuart, 3rd Earl of Moray.
It
is thought that he built the Castle for protection, as he married
Anne Gordon - whose father stabbed to death his father,
the 2nd Earl of Moray.
No
sooner was the Castle built, than it was attacked by 500 MacIntoshes,
and the Stuart family took the option to pay off the MacIntoshes,
who took the money and ran
Some
twenty years later, with Oliver Cromwell gaining strength in England,
the cultured and melancholy Stuart king, Charles the First, died
beneath the headsman's axe outside his own London Palace of Whitehall,
and Castle Stuart suffered. It fell into decline and gradually
became a derelict ruin for almost 300 years. It remained empty
- except for the ghosts!.
Throughout
the centuries of Scotland's troubled history, Castle Stuart has
stood a strong refuge and retreat for the Earls of Moray and the
Stuart family. Within sight of this great house on high Culloden
Moor, the Highland Broadsword rose and fell in the last futile
attempt to restore the exiled Stuart kings to the British throne.
Charles
Edward Stuart, "Bonny Prince Charlie", the romantic
'might have been' of British history, shared with the Lords of
Castle Stuart a proud descent from the Royal House of Albany,
rulers of Scotland. The Stuarts and their kin wrote much of the
bloody and poetic history that is Scotland's heritage.
In
1977 Richard Charles Stuart and his wife Elizabeth, began the
task of restoring the Castle to its former glory. This splendid
17th Century structure is now once more home to the Stuart family
and as you can see is a magnificent Castle of which the Earls
of Moray would be proud.
For
more information on a Highland Wedding in Castle Stuart &
other Scottish Highland Weddings anywhere in Scotland- Contact
Us
