Castle Leod is the seat of the Clan Mackenzie. It is a category A listed building, [1] and the grounds are listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens. [2] It is located near Strathpeffer in the east of Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands.
The castle was granted to John of Killin, 10th Chief of Clan MacKenzie (1485–1561) after he fought at the Battle of Flodden. [2] The castle was passed to his great-grandson Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, who granted it in 1608 to his brother Sir Roderick "Rorie" Mackenzie. In 1605 Sir Roderick married Margaret MacLeod, heiress of Torquil MacLeod of Lewis, bringing her immense wealth into the family and also settling the feud between the MacLeods and the Mackenzies over the Barony of Coigach, which thus passed into the Mackenzie family. [2]
The castle is believed to have been built on the site of a very ancient Pictish fort from before the 12th century. [3] The current castle is the result of work carried out in the early 17th century by Sir Roderick Mackenzie, the ancestor of the Earl of Cromartie. [4] The castle has remained the seat of the Earls of Cromartie ever since.
In 1746 George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie, forfeited the estate, following his support for the ill-fated 1745 Jacobite Uprising. The estates, but not the title, were restored to his son in 1784. The castle was reported to already be in a run-down state earlier in the same century, when the estate was badly debt-ridden. By 1814 it was described as "Quite a ruin... deserted except by crows",[ citation needed ] though this may have applied more to the upper upper floors.
In the mid 19th century, Castle Leod was completely renovated by the Hay-Mackenzies. Descendants of the 3rd Earl, the Hay-Mackenzies were restored to the earldom of Cromartie after Anne Hay-Mackenzie married George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland, and in 1861 was created first Countess of Cromartie, the earldom last held by her great-great-grandfather, the 3rd Earl, with a special remainder to her second son, Francis Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Cromartie. She was also created Baroness Macleod, of Castle Leod.
In 1851 large extensions were added to the north of the castle, which were rebuilt in 1904. [4] The roof was made watertight as recently as 1992. The castle remains the home of the Earl of Cromartie, and is open to the public on a limited number of days.
A compact L-Plan tower house, built of red sandstone, forms the earliest part of the castle, and may be based on a 15th-century building. [4] An additional section was later added in the re-entrant angle, making the castle square in plan, and accommodating a larger staircase and extra bedrooms. The date 1616 is carved on a dormer window, but it is not known if this date refers to the original phase or the extension. [4] The addition was built over the parapet of the original front, and is more decorative in style. [4]
In some parts the walls of the castle are 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 m) thick. Other defensive measures include the iron grilles which remain on some lower windows, and numerous splayed gun loops and arrow-slit windows. The rooms, some wood-panelled, are decorated with many Mackenzie portraits from past centuries, as well as antique furnishings and large-scale antique maps. Many original fittings are to be found around the castle. The grounds include two Spanish chestnuts, said to have been planted by John of Killin in 1556, to mark the confirmation of his acquisition of Castle Leod by Mary Queen of Scots. [2]
Castle Leod is widely considered to be the inspiration behind Castle Leoch, the seat and home of the laird of Clan Mackenzie, in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander historical fiction series. It was considered as a filming location for the TV series, yet Doune Castle was selected, due to its ease of location. This may be surprising to viewers who know Castle Leod as the seat of the Clan Mackenzie and accurately represents the historical period which Diana Gabaldon seeks to portray.
Diana Gabaldon told STV that "When the TV show began scouting locations, I suggested Leod as a possibility. It's entirely accurate as to period, of course, and has magnificent grounds, with a park of enormous, exotic trees planted by centuries of MacKenzies and their visitors. (Diana herself planted a "very modest" rowan, as her "own wee contribution" to the history). [5]
Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross.
Earl of Cromartie is a title that has been created twice, both for members of the Mackenzie family. It was first created as Earl of Cromarty in the Peerage of Scotland in 1703 for Sir George Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet, but his titles were forfeited after the Jacobite rising of 1745. It was recreated in 1861 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom for Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland. Since 1979, the Earl of Cromartie has been chief of Clan Mackenzie.
Clan Mackenzie is a Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestors of the Mackenzie chiefs to the 12th century. However, the earliest Mackenzie chief recorded by contemporary evidence is Alexander Mackenzie of Kintail who died some time after 1471. Traditionally, during the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Mackenzies supported Robert the Bruce, but feuded with the Earls of Ross in the latter part of the 14th century. During the 15th and 16th-centuries the Mackenzies feuded with the neighboring clans of Munro and MacDonald. In the 17th century the Mackenzie chief was made Earl of Seaforth in the peerage of Scotland. During the Scottish Civil War of the 17th century the Mackenzies largely supported the Royalists. During the Jacobite rising of 1715 the chief and clan of Mackenzie supported the Jacobite cause. However, during the Jacobite rising of 1745 the clan was divided with the chief, Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose, supporting the British-Hanoverian Government and his relative, George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie, supporting the Jacobites.
Strathpeffer is a village and spa town in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland, with a population of 1,469.
Castle Chanonry of Ross, also known as Seaforth Castle, was located in the town of Fortrose, to the north-east of Inverness, on the peninsula known as the Black Isle, Highland, Scotland. Nothing now remains of the castle. The castle was also known as Canonry or Chanonrie of Ross, the former county.
Clan MacLeod of The Lewes, commonly known as Clan MacLeod of Lewis, is a Highland Scottish clan, which at its height held extensive lands in the Western Isles and west coast of Scotland. From the 14th century up until the beginning of the 17th century there were two branches of Macleods: the MacLeods of Dunvegan and Harris ; and the Macleods of the Isle of Lewis. In Gaelic the Macleods of Lewis were known as Sìol Thorcaill, and the MacLeods of Dunvegan and Harris were known as Sìol Thormoid.
The Battle of Bealach nam Broig was a battle fought between Scottish clans from the lands of north-west Ross, against north-eastern clans of Ross who supported the Earl of Ross. The actual date of the battle is debated, it probably occurred in 1452 but the Conflicts of the Clans suggests a date as early as 1299.
The Battle of Drumchatt was a Scottish clan battle that took place in 1497. The Clan Mackenzie and possibly the Clan Munro defeated the Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh at Drumchatt (Druimchat) or "the Cat's Back", a ridge to the southeast of Strathpeffer.
Milntown Castle was an early 16th-century castle which was situated near Milton, in Easter Ross, in the Scottish Highlands.
Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth (1596/97–1633), was a Highland clan chief and Scottish nobleman, possessed of vast estates and wealth.
Alexander Mackenzie, known as "Ionraic", traditionally counted as 6th of Kintail, was the first chief of the Clan Mackenzie of whom indisputable contemporary documentary evidence survives. During his long life, he greatly expanded his clan's territories and influence.
Hector Roy Mackenzie of Gairloch was a Scottish clan chieftain of the Clan Mackenzie, who acquired vast estates in and around Gairloch, Wester Ross as a result of his services to the Scottish crown and challenged his nephew for the chiefship of the clan.
Colin Mackenzie of Kintail, nicknamed "Cam", was a Highland chief of the Scottish clan Mackenzie who greatly increased his ancestral estates through royal favour and a career of vigorous self-aggrandisement.
Kenneth Mackenzie, was the 10th laird of Kintail and he was nicknamed Coinneach na Cuirc in Scottish Gaelic, was a Highland chief, head of the Clan Mackenzie, who flourished in the turbulent Scottish politics of the mid-16th century.
The chiefs of the Scottish highland Clan Mackenzie were historically known as the Mackenzies of Kintail. By tradition the Mackenzie chiefs descend from Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st of Kintail however their earliest ancestor proven by contemporary evidence is Alexander Mackenzie, 6th of Kintail. The chiefly line became the Earls of Seaforth during the 17th century but this title was later forfeited in the 18th century due to support of the Jacobite rising of 1715. The current official chief of the Clan Mackenzie is John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie.
Leod Macgilleandrais is purported to have been a 14th-century Scotsman, who lived in the north-west of Scotland. He is known from clan traditions, which date to the late 17th century. According to these traditions, Leod was a follower of the Earl of Ross, and that he was an enemy of the Mackenzies of Kintail. He is said to have captured one of the early Mackenzie chiefs, and was then later killed by the slain chief's son sometime in the 14th century. His memory is preserved in the place where he is said to have been slain. According to at least one version of the tradition, Leod was survived by a son named Paul. Several historians in 19th and early 20th centuries equated this son to Paul Mactire.
John Mackenzie, Lord MacLeod was a Scottish Jacobite politician and soldier of fortune.
John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie is a Scottish engineer and peer. He is the current chief of Clan Mackenzie.
The Battle of Drumchatt, or Druim-a-Chait, was a Scottish clan battle claimed by non-contemporary historians to have taken place in the year 1501 near Strathpeffer, in the Scottish Highlands. It was allegedly fought between the Clan Mackenzie and the Clan Munro. Mackenzie chronicles have claimed a signal victory.
Roderick Grant Francis Blunt-Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Cromartie, was a Scottish soldier and peer. In 1979, he was recognised as the chief of Clan Mackenzie.