Huntingtower - Wee Guides to Scotland castles and mansions

Wee Guides to Scotland
Hungtingtower Castle, Perth

Goblinshead

130 Inveresk Rd
Musselburgh
EH21 7AY
SCOTLAND

A well-preserved and interesting castle, Huntingtower consists of a 15th-century keep, a nearby but not touching 16th-century L-plan tower house, and a later small connecting range. Some rooms have fine painted ceilings, wall paintings, and there are decorative beams in the hall. The property was held by the Ruthvens from the 12th century, and was originally called Ruthven Castle. Mary, Queen of Scots, visited the castle in 1565. In 1582 the 4th Lord Ruthven, who had been made Earl of Gowrie in 1581, kidnapped the young James VI - in the 'Raid of Ruthven'. James was held at Huntingtower for a year until he escaped during a hunting trip. The Earl was beheaded in 1585. The Ruthvens were forfeited for treason in 1600 after the 'Gowrie Conspiracy' - a plot to murder James VI - their name proscribed, and the castle renamed Huntingtower. Huntingtower passed to the Murray Dukes of Atholl. The Jacobite general Lord George Murray was born here; but by the 19th-century Huntingtower was used to house labourers. It was put into the care of the State in 1912. The space between the battlements of the two towers is known as 'The Maiden's Leap'. A daughter of the 1st Earl of Gowrie is said to have jumped from one tower to the other. While visiting her lover in his chamber, and about to be discovered by her mother, she leapt to the other tower and returned to her own bed before her mother caught her. She eloped with her lover the following night. The castle and grounds are said to be haunted by a 'Green Lady'.

Directions:	Off A85, 3 miles NW of Perth.
Ownership:	HS	01738 627231	Ord. Survey Map Ref:	NO 083252 58
Open:	Open daily all year except closed Thursday PM and Fridays October to March.
Key:	P S £	Click Here for explanation of Key and other abreviations

Fax:+44 (0) 131 653 6566 Tel: +44 (0) 131 665 2894
email:goblinshead@sol.co.uk