11/11/2023
Crazy beautiful ❤️
No, this isn't Skyfall. It's Duntrune Castle, which inspired the famous stag gatepost for James Bond's childhood home. If you missed the Halloween special video of the ghost piper, then I recommend you go watch it, but Duntrune is more than just a ghostly piper!
It's one of the contenders for oldest inhabited castle in Scotland, probably built by the MacDougalls in the 12th or 13th century. Up until they faced off against Robert the Bruce, they were the most powerful clan in the west.
They knew how and where to build a castle too! This is a strategic spot on a solid, jutting rock watching over the sheltered bay at Crinan. It guards the Sound of Jura, once a busy sea route and inland you'll find the incredibly important Kilmartin Glen.
After the MacDougalls were forced to forfeit most of their territory, their loss was the Campbells' gain. Duntrune Castle was given to Duncan Campbell for his services to King Robert and it would stay in his descendants' hands until 1792.
This struggling branch of the Campbell family was forced to sell the estate to the up and coming Malcolms/McCallums of Poltalloch. They would go on to remodel the castle into something a little more comfortable, although the curtain wall you can see is thought to be mostly original.
Duntrune is still home to the Clan Chief, Robin Malcolm the 19th Laird of Poltalloch, so it's not a castle you can visit the inside of although the gardens are open. It does have holiday cottages and after staying in for the last week I can highly recommend them!
The best part is waking up to this view every morning...
