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The Lord
of the Isles is 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. Although they were, at
times, nominal vassals of the Kings of Norway, Ireland,
or Scotland, the island chiefs remained functionally
independent for many centuries. Their territory included
the Hebrides (Skye and Ross from 1438), Knoydart,
Ardnamurchan, and the Kintyre peninsula. At their height
they were the greatest landowners and most powerful
lords in Britain after the Kings of England and
Scotland.
The end of
the MacDonald Lords came in 1493 when John MacDonald II
had his ancestral homeland, estates, and titles seized
by King James IV of Scotland. Since that time, the
MacDonald Clan has contested the right of James IV to
the Lordship of the Isles and uprisings and rebellions
against the Scottish Monarch were common. More recently,
the Lordship of the Isles has been held by the Duke of
Rothesay, the eldest son and heir apparent of the King
of Scotland, a title which, since the creation of the
Kingdom of Great Britain, is borne by the Prince of
Wales. Thus Prince Charles is the current Lord of the
Isles.
Armadale Castle
is a ruined country house in Armadale, Skye, former home
of the MacDonalds. Clan Donald established itself on
Skye in the 15th century. The Clan originally occupied
castles at Dunscaith and Knock, both within a few miles
of Armadale, and Duntulm Castle at the north end of the
island. From the 1650s the Macdonald chiefs began to
stay at Armadale, in a house sited further west than the
present Castle.
Around
1790 a new mansion house was built, some of which
survives as the present-day estate offices.
In 1815
the renowned architect James Gillespie Graham was
commissioned to extend the mansion house to form
Armadale Castle - a Scottish baronial style mock-castle,
intended for show rather than defense. The Castle
included lavish interiors with arcaded public halls and
a great marble staircase. A fire in 1855 destroyed the
Castle’s central section, and David Bryce was
commissioned to design a replacement.
In 1925
the Macdonald family moved to a smaller house, leaving
the castle to the wind and rain. The Castle was put on
the market in 1972 and purchased by the Clan Donald
Lands Trust. By this time the west part of the Castle
was derelict, and in 1981 the decision was taken to
demolish the building while saving as many remnants as
possible. The gardens around the castle have been
maintained, and are now home to the Clan Donald Centre,
which operates the Museum of the Isles.
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