Knock Castle

Knock Castle is also known as Caisteal Camus,  it is 3.5 miles north of Armadale on the Isle of Skye.  It was held by the MacLeods in the fifteenth century, but later passed to the MacDonalds.  Knock Castle became the key stronghold for the Lords of the Isles - The MacDonalds.  Some say that if it wasn’t for the carelessness of the warden who held it for the MacLeods and allowed himself to be suprised, the MacDonalds would have never set foot in Skye.  When the Lords of the Isles eventually left Knock Castle for Dunscaith it became the fortress of the Barons of Sleat and stood seige from the MacLeods at the end of the fifteenth century.  On this occassion it was defended, and most bravely, by a woman, ‘Mary of the Castle’.  The story of how she came to be in charge is a mystery, but most of the MacDonald women were competent fighters so this is not completely out of the ordinary.  Stories of Mary’s courage and skill are still told to this day.  It was under the shelter of her shield that the clan had time to gather and to arm.

Castle Maol

Kylekin is a small promontory that juts out of the east end of Skye and is crowned by the ruins of Castle Maol. The main wall of the ruin is an impressive eleven feet thick, but ended up defeated by the great storm of 1948. On Febuary 1st 1948, the main wall of Castle Maol cracked from top to bottom. But the castle still stands.

It was originally built by ‘Saucy Mary’, a Norwegian princess, wife of a MacDonald of the time, who used the castle to extract toll from every ship that passed through the Kyles. It is said she had a chain across from the castle to the mainland shore. This would have been some chain! Later, Castle Maol came into the possession of the MacKinnons of Strath.

Castle Maol

Pabay is a small island just off Skye. On Pabay are the ruins of a small chapel, built originally by St. Columba’s monks. After the chapel fell into disuse and the monks left, it became a refuge for outlaws ‘broken men’ and robbers. They caused much trouble on the main island of Skye. Legend has it this bunch of criminals met their end in a very unusual way. They had, of course many enemies and their chief decided to rid himself of them all with the help of the Devil. The band made up a huge fire and roasted three cats alive chanting the appropriate spells, an infallible way of raising the Evil One if you get the spells right. It was told that several minor demons appeared, but the robber chief insisted that he would only deal with the Devil himself.

Eventually Satan rose from the earth and asked their will. The robber chief told the Devil to kill two men whom the chief feared. The Devil responded “The price of two lives is two souls”. This worried the gang and an argument began. Now, the chief had been known to boast that if he could only get swords that would not melt, he would be able to conquer Hell and capture Satan himself. The Devil reminded him of this and accepted his challenge, offering to kill all his enemies if he won the battle. The Devil was to fight the band for their souls ‘here on the shore where swords do not melt.’ The robber chief was so arrogant that he agreed. A fearfull battle ensued, the Devil and his legions overcoming all the bandits who were armed with claymores or broadswords but failed to harm the chief, whose sword had a cross hilt. Suddenly a great black cat jumped from nowhere onto the chief’s sword arm, causing him to drop his blade. He was never seen again.

The blackened stones where the evil fire was lit, on the beach near Ardnish can still be seen, proof to the truth of this tale.

Last weekend saw an ambitious project to cover the Skye Bridge in knitting!! This was part of Highland Homecoming.

The Skye Bridge links the Isle of Skye with the mainland in the West Highlands of Scotland.

The aim was to link this (rather large!) piece of guerrilla knitting with Highland Homecoming 2009, a celebration of Scotland’s great contribution to the world.

The Cuillins

The Cuillins or The Black Cuillins to be more specific are as dark as their name, a mass of pinnacles and sharp rock ridges violently indented against the sky. It is of no suprise that they play host to many legends. I have begun to collect a few while I’ve been in Skye, here is the first.

Way back at the beginning Cailleach Bhur ( The Hag of the Ridges), this was also another name for Winter. She lived on Ben Wyvis and came west to boil her linen in her washing pot, dangerous Corryvreckan. She was a fearsome and powerful person who had made Scotland by dropping into the sea a creel of peat and rock which she had brought with her from the north. After her linen had boiled well she would spread them to bleach on Storr. It was said that while the hag was on Skye no good weather was to be got at all. Now Spring her because she held the maiden he loved prisoner. The Hag would only release the maiden when she washed a brown fleece white.

There was a great battle between Spring and the Hag, he fought with her, but she was stronger. He appealed to the Sun to help him and the Sun flung a spear at The Hag as she walked on the moor; it was so fiery and hot it scorched the earth where it struck, a great blister, six miles long and six miles wide, grew and grew until it burst and flung forth the Cuillins as a glowing, molten mass. It stood there for many, many months glowing and smoking. The Hag ran way and hid beneath the roots of a holly and dared not return.

Even now, her snow is useless against the fiery hills.

The current church of Kilmore stands in an idyllic position on the coast of Skye with great views over the water towards the main land. The history of this church is in fact the history of three churches.

The now Parish church stands on a site sanctifed by successive places of worship since the dawn of Christian evangelism of the Western Isles of Scotland. Previous to this it was even a place of Pagan or Druid sancuary.

The first church was built by the chief of the Logans of Druimdeurfait, Ross-shire, he was called Crotach Mac Gille Gorm, a hunch-backed son of the blue lad-servant. The church lasted till early in the seventeenth century, around 1631.

This church was destroyed when a clan battle was fought in a neighbouring field between the MacIntyres (then in posession of this corner of Sleat, though MacDonald territory) and a foraging band of MacLeods. The MacLeods won the battle, where-upon the MacIntyres took refuge in the church; the MacLeods ruthlessly set fire to the church. The roof burnt quickly as it was thatched with heather. Everyone inside was killed and the church was destroyed.

The more recent church was said to have been built around 1631, but not completed till 1691, owing to troublesome times. According to Iain Lom, the noted Lochaber bard, the church was eventually errected by Sir MacDonald of Sleat and the Isles, but unfortunately he died before it was finished. Iain Lom says:
“To the church of Sleat-of-the-waves,
It’s cost you defrayed to build,
Though you didn’t wait (survive) to slate it.

The church lasted for nearly two hundred years the ruins can be seen in the grounds of the present church.

The present church now stands adjacent to the second. The minister of the parish, Rev. John Forbes, discovered an old cup in a heap of rubbish beneath the old pulpit; it was duly cleaned and mounted on a brass bracket and has been used for baptisms ever since.