Kilravock Castle is located near the village of Croy

Croy, Highland

Croy is a village between Inverness and Nairn, in the Highland council area in Scotland. The village looks over the Moray firth and is located a few miles from Inverness Airport.-History:...

, between Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

 and Nairn

Nairn

Nairn is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness...

, in Highland

Highland (council area)

Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It was begun around 1460, and has been the seat of the Clan Rose

Clan Rose

Clan Rose is a Highland Scottish clan. Their chief's motto is "Constant and True" and their chief'sfamily castle is Kilravock Castle, built in 1460...

 since that time. The castle is a composite of a 15th century tower house

Tower house

A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...

 and several later additions. The original name for the castle was Cill Rathaig; Scottish Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....

 meaning "church at the small circular fort".

History

The lands were original in ownership of the Bissett family

Clan Bissett

Clan Bissett is a Scottish clan of Anglo-Norman origin. It does not have a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, therefore the clan has no standing under Scots Law...

 from the 12 century until it was passed via marriage to the Rose family

Clan Rose

Clan Rose is a Highland Scottish clan. Their chief's motto is "Constant and True" and their chief'sfamily castle is Kilravock Castle, built in 1460...

 in the 13th century.

Its keep dates from around 1460, when the then baron of Kilravock was granted a license to build by the Lord of the Isles

Lord of the Isles

The designation Lord of the Isles is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of...

. This was extended in the 17th century, with the addition of a square stair tower, and the south range. The north and west sides of the quadrangle were added later. Mary, Queen of Scots, was received at the castle in 1562, and Prince Charles Edward Stuart

Charles Edward Stuart

Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...

 was entertained four days before the battle of Culloden

Battle of Culloden

The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...

. His enemy, the Duke of Cumberland, visited soon after the battle, and Robert Burns

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...

 came here in September 1787. It is a Category A listed building, and is still occupied. it is operated as bed and breakfast

Bed and breakfast

A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...

 accommodation.

The Rose family

Kilravock Castle has been continuously tenanted by the Roses

Clan Rose

Clan Rose is a Highland Scottish clan. Their chief's motto is "Constant and True" and their chief'sfamily castle is Kilravock Castle, built in 1460...

, a family of Norman origin, who arrived in Britain with William the Conqueror

William I of England

William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...

. They settled at Kilravock in 1293, since which date son has succeeded father without the interposition of a collateral heir, an instance of direct descent unique in Scottish history. Moreover, nearly every Rose has borne the Christian name of Hugh, and only one attained to a higher social rank than that of laird

Laird

A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...

. The present chief

Scottish clan chief

The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder, and...

of the Clan Rose, is Anna Elizabeth Guillemard Rose, 25th of Kilravock.

External links

• Kilravock Castle web site