CAWDOR CASTLE – Cawdor, Nairnshire, Scotland (www.TravelersWithABucketList.com)

This castle is still in use. We explore the drawbridge and courtyard, historical rooms and the dungeon.

How about some interesting History and folklore: The earliest documented date for the castle is 1454, the date a license to fortify was granted to William Calder, 6th Thane of Cawdor (or Calder, as the name was originally spelled). The present castle is set amid gardens in the parish of Cawdor in Nairnshire, Scotland. The castle is built around a 15th-century tower house (1454), with substantial additions in later centuries. Architectural historians have dated the style of stonework in the oldest portion of the castle to approximately 1380. Originally a property of the Calder family, it passed to the Campbells in the 16th century. The castle was expanded numerous times in the succeeding centuries. It remains in Campbell ownership, and is now home to the Dowager Countess Cawdor, stepmother of Colin Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor.

The castle is perhaps best known for its literary connection to William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, in which the title character is made "Thane of Cawdor". However, the story is highly fictionalized, and the castle itself, which is never directly referred to in Macbeth, was built many years after the life of the 11th-century King Macbeth.

One curious feature of the castle is that it was built around a small, living holly tree. Tradition states that Thane of Cawdor allowed a gold-bearing donkey to choose where to build it. The donkey laid down to rest under this tree, which was then selected as the site of the castle. The remains of the tree may still be seen in the lowest level of the tower. Modern scientific testing has shown that the tree died in approximately 1372 lending credence to another earlier construction on that site.

Видео CAWDOR CASTLE – Cawdor, Nairnshire, Scotland (www.TravelersWithABucketList.com) канала Aldimar Video Productions