Exploring Scotland 1 Castle at a Time, Part 23, Cawdor Castle
My 2nd favorite castle in all of Scotland, of the ones we got to see, was Cawdor Castle. I’m Campbell crazy. Anyone who has read my first book Highland Moonlight probably deduced that. But who wouldn’t be blown away by Cawdor Castle, Campbell obsessed or not? It’s very existence came about because of a dream. The first Thane of Cawdor (Calder) was created in 1180 by William I. A Thane was the equivalent of a Baron and a traditional Scottish title. Thane Cawdor was appointed sheriff of the royal castle at Nairn. Soon after the original Cawdor castle was built on a marshy piece of ground about a mile from the current Cawdor castle. There is nothing left of it. In 1310 the second Thane, William Cawdor, had his title confirmed by Robert the Bruce. In 1370 the third Thane Cawdor, William, began a search for a location for a new castle. He had a dream that led him to load gold on the back of a donkey and follow it as it roamed the area. The donkey finally stopped and lay beneath a t...