Castle Leod

Castle Leod is located near Strathpeffer in the east of Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. It is currently the seat of the Clan MacKenzie chief, however it originally belonged to the chief of the Clan MacLeod of Lewis until the 17th century.

In the early seventeenth century the main chieftainship line of the Lewis MacLeods became extinct and the chieftainship passed to the MacLeods of Raasay branch. Later the Lewis MacLeod clansmen were forced to accept the ascendancy of their cousins at Dunvegan and the two MacLeod clans became one.

As a result the Barony of Lewis fell into the hands of the chief of the Clan MacKenzie. The last chief of the MacLeods of Lewis had married a daughter of the MacKenzie chief. The MacKenzie chief thereby claimed the barony of Lewis as his own. However the MacLeods of Lewis clansmen prospered under the chieftainship of the Clan MacLeod of Skye.

In 1605 Sir Roderick ("Rorie") Mackenzie married Margaret MacLeod, heiress of Torquil MacLeod of the Lewis. This proved to be an extremely astute and opportune betrothal, since it not only brought her immense wealth into the family but also settled once and for all the bitter and often violent feud between the MacLeods and the Mackenzies over the West Coast Barony of Coigach, which thus passed into the Mackenzie family, they were to hold it for a further four centuries

The current castle is the result of work carried out in 1606 by the Clan MacKenzie. However the castle is believed to have been built on the site of a very ancient Pictish fort from before the 12th century. In some parts the walls are up to 6-7-8 feet thick.

Castle Leod indeed boasts other effective defensive measures such as walls seven to eight feet thick, iron grilles still remaining on some lower windows, and a copious supply of splayed gun loops and arrow-slit windows. Even the "New" ground floor entrance (incorporated into the south facing side of the re-entrant addition when it was built) is guarded by shot-holes. Apart from extra bedrooms, the re-entrant addition also made room for a fashionable, straight flight of stairs leading up from the ground floor inside the castle.

The compact, L-Plan tower house (the red sandstone walls in many places are 7 - 8 feet thick) was the result of the extending and remodelling of an earlier castle. The work carried out circa 1606 by Sir Roderick Mackenzie, the 17th century family founder of the Earls of Cromarty (later Cromartie). An additional section was later added in the re-entrant angle to the accommodate a larger staircase and extra bedrooms. The castle has remained the seat of the Earls of Cromartie ever since.

Forfeiture of the estate, following the 3rd Earl of Cromartie George Mackenzie's support for the ill-fated 1745 Jacobite Uprising, led to the castle's darkest days, though there had been reports of it being in a run-down state earlier in the same century, when the estate was badly debt-ridden. By 1814 and the time of Castle Leod's complete renovation by the Hay-Mackenzie Lairds, it was described as "Quite a ruin... deserted except by crows", though this may have applied more to the upper upper floors.

The principal part of Castle Leod, the 17th century castle itself, retains the distinct, homely charm and historical ambience that one would expect of the seat of such an important Scottish clan. The rooms, some wood-panelled, boast many Mackenzie portraits from past centuries as well as antique furnishings and some fascinating, large-scale antique maps; other antique artifacts and many original fittings are to be found around the castle. All are now safely kept under a completely watertight roof which was rescued, at enormous expense from its parlous, leaky state as recently as 1992.

ee also

*Castles in Scotland
*Castles in the United Kingdom.
*Clan MacKenzie
*Clan MacLeod of Lewis

External links

* [http://www.clan-mackenzie.org.uk/clan/leod.html http://www.clan-mackenzie.org.uk/clan/leod.html]