Why You Should Visit Cawdor Castle For Incredible Stories

Most travellers to Scotland want to explore a few castles and there are plenty of options. Choosing isn’t easy, but if you like clan history, beautiful surroundings and fascinating legends then you need to visit Cawdor Castle!

Cawdor is still privately owned so visitors wander through a genuine home rather than a staged museum. That gives Cawdor Castle a different kind of atmosphere, you might even spot modern comforts like the hidden TV case. However, there are many more interesting reasons that this is one of my absolute favourite Scottish castles!

How To Get To Cawdor Castle

You’ll find Cawdor near Nairn, up towards the Moray Firth and east of Inverness. It’s not easy to visit Cawdor Castle from Edinburgh or Glasgow in a daytrip, taking around three and a half hours from both. It is however very easily reached from Inverness.

To get to Cawdor Castle from Inverness by car, just take the main A96 road and before long you will see a right hand turn marked for the castle 4 miles away. It takes around 25 minutes from the middle of Inverness but be aware of the signs as you get closer. My Sat Nav always attempts to take me into the estate office, but there are big signs pointing you to the proper entrance.

Story Of Cawdor Castle’s Founding Tree

This story is one you have to remember when you visit Cawdor Castle. It’s no doubt it’s greatest tale and it’s also its earliest. In the 14th century, the Thane of Cawdor lived in a different stronghold a short distance away, but he wasn’t happy with it. Too cold, too damp and probably too small. He received permission to build a new fortress, all he needed was to choose the location.

Fortunately, the Thane of Cawdor had a dream with instructions on how to find the perfect building plot. If he followed them exactly, the Cawdors would forever prosper on that spot. People must have thought he was mad as he loaded a chest of gold onto a donkey and let it roam his land. Wherever it chose to stop, that was where he would build the new Cawdor Castle.

As the donkey wandered, it sniffed a few spots before finally lying down for a nap under a holly tree. The decision had been made and Cawdor Castle was built on that exact spot. It sounds like a silly legend, but in the depths of the old tower you can still find that long-dead tree!

Sprouting right out of the bedrock, surrounded by 14th century stone walls, it was starved of sunlight many years ago. Just to make it more interesting, the holly tree has been carbon dated, dying around 1372. Now that isn’t something you’ll find in many other castles!

Muriel Calder’s Great Escape

Most of Scotland’s castles have seen some kind of bloodshed in their time and Cawdor Castle is no different. After the 8th Thane of Cawdor passed away in 1498, Clan Calder were in trouble. He had left behind a single infant daughter called Muriel who would inherit everything, but her extended family wanted it for themselves. Instead, King James placed her under the care of the Earl of Argyll.

Argyll sent 60 armed Campbells north to visit Cawdor Castle, collect Muriel and escort her to Inveraray, with plans to eventually marry her into the family. Of course, the girl’s uncles weren’t happy about that at all. They gathered the rest of Clan Calder and set off in pursuit of the Campbells. The men from Inveraray were badly outnumbered, but all that mattered was the girl.

Their leader Campbell of Inverliver ordered 6 men to take Muriel south while he bought them some time. Cutting corn from a field, he stuffed it into the girl’s spare clothes, before turning to defend the dummy. It was a bloody fight, with half a dozen of Campbell’s own sons killed before it was time to run. Clan Calder must have been furious to discover they had been tricked, but it was too late for them now. Muriel was gone.

Eventually, Muriel married the Earl of Argyll’s younger son John Campbell and the pair came north to lay claim to Cawdor Castle. As political marriages go, it seemed to be a happy one, commemorated inside the castle by one fireplace. Carved in is the wedding date of 1510, initials IC for John and MC for Muriel, with an intertwined DS for Dame and Sir above.

Is Cawdor Castle Haunted?

Every castle in Scotland seems to have at least one ghost, so of course Cawdor Castle is haunted. There’s a Blue Lady, believed to be Lady Isabella Caroline Howard, who stares longingly at the portrait of her husband Sir John Campbell. The interesting part is that he’s also believed to haunt Cawdor Castle! Maybe they have no idea the other is still there….

The third of Cawdor Castle’s ghosts is a much more tragic tale. She was a daughter of one of the Thane’s of Cawdor, who had fallen in love with the wrong boy. Her father was determined that she would marry for the good of the family, that was how things were done! However, she kept sneaking out until one day the Thane caught her in the act.

The girl was dragged up to her bedroom in one of Cawdor’s towers and locked there until she saw sense. When her father opened the door to see if any lessons had been learned, he found his daughter trying to climb out of the window. In a fit of rage, he pulled out his sword and chopped off both of his own daughter’s hands. Is it any wonder she haunted him after that?!

Was Macbeth Thane of Cawdor?

There’s a particularly well-known connection that we haven’t mentioned yet, probably one of the most famous stories of Cawdor Castle. Made famous by William Shakespeare, it’s the story of Macbeth, King of Scots around a thousand years ago. In his play, Macbeth was already Thane of Glamis before being granted the title Thane of Cawdor.

While Macbeth was a very real person, sadly he had absolutely nothing to do with Cawdor. Before becoming King of Scots, he was the Mormaer of Moray so did at least originated in the same area. There was no Thane of Cawdor at that time though and the castle wasn’t built until much later.

It wasn’t William Shakespeare who mixed up the story though, all he did was dramatise already popular stories. The story of Macbeth and the weird sisters was much older, but originally as Thane of Cromarty and of Moray. Apparently that didn’t sound good enough so it was later changed to the titles we now known from the play!

Wander Amongst Cawdor Castle Gardens

Once you’re finished with the indoor stories of Cawdor Castle, head out into the gardens. There’s a labyrinth of holly trees to remind you of the founding story and sculpted art such as the globe made of old slate from the roof. The most interesting part are the symbolic gardens, designed by the Dowager Countess.

The Paradise garden is beautiful, symbolising heaven on earth while the Earth garden is full of medicinal plants and herbs. Between the two you find purgatory, full of prickly Scottish thistles. Nearby the Garden of Eden boasts several varieties of apple trees, their fruit being made into apple juice by the monks of Pluscarden Abbey!

I didn’t ask if apple juice really meant cider…

How To Visit Cawdor Castle

Hopefully now you’ve been convinced to visit Cawdor Castle for it’s incredible stories! The castle opens every Spring and closes down in October for a very good reason. The historic Cawdor Castle is still home to the Dowager Countess who moves back in over winter!

While Cawdor isn’t one of the properties part of the National Trust for Scotland, it is a member of Historic Houses. I pay an annual fee and get to visit lots of places like this and Glamis Castle as well for free!

If you do want to visit Cawdor Castle then it’s easy to include it on a trip around Loch Ness or to Culloden. If you’re looking for up to date information or book tickets for Cawdor Castle then just head here!

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