19th CENTURY SCOTTISH SCHOOL J.S ROUGH "View of Castle Stalker" Scotland

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19th CENTURY SCOTTISH SCHOOL J.S ROUGH "View of Castle Stalker" Scotland :
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19th CENTURY SCOTTISH SCHOOLJ.S ROUGH"View of Castle Stalker" ScotlandWatercolour on Board17 x 24 cm and 38 x 39 cm with the passpartout6,7 x 9,5 inches and 15 x 15,3 inches with the passpartoutSigned J S Rough

Castle Stalker(Scottish Gaelic:Caisteal an Stalcaire) is a four-storytower houseorkeeppicturesquely set on atidal isleton Loch Laich, an inlet offLoch Linnhe. It is about 1.5 miles (2.4km) north-east ofPort Appin,Argyll, Scotland, and is visible from theA828 roadabout midway betweenObanandGlen Coe. The islet is accessible (with difficulty) from the shore at low tide. The name "Stalker" comes from theGaelicStalcaire, meaning "hunter" or "falconer".

In recent times, the castle was brought to fame by theMonty Pythonteam, appearing in their filmMonty Python and the Holy Grail.

Contents[hide]

1Setting
2History
3In popular culture
4References
5External links

Setting[edit]

Theisland castle's picturesque appearance, with its bewitching island setting against a dramatic backdrop of mountains, has made it a favourite subject for postcards and calendars, and something of a cliché image of Scottish Highland scenery. Castle Stalker is entirely authentic; it is one of the best-preserved medieval tower-houses surviving in western Scotland.[1]It forms part of the Lynn of LornNational Scenic Area, one of forty in Scotland.[2]

History[edit]

The original castle was a small fort, built around 1320 byClan MacDougallwho were then Lords ofLorn.[3]Around 1388 theStewartstook over the Lordship of Lorn, and it is believed that they built the castle in its present form around the 1440s. The Stewart's relative KingJames IV of Scotlandvisited the castle, and a drunken bet around 1620 resulted in the castle passing toClan Campbell. After changing hands between these clans a couple of times the Campbells finally abandoned the castle in about 1840, when it lost its roof. In 1908 the castle was bought by Charles Stewart of Achara, who carried out basic conservation work. In 1965 Lt. Col. D. R. Stewart Allward acquired the castle and over about ten years fully restored it. Castle Stalker remains in private ownership and is open to the public at selected times during the summer.

For the 2011 census the island on which the castle stands was classified by theNational Records of Scotlandas an inhabited island that "had no usual residents at the time of either the 2001 or 2011 censuses."[4]

In popular culture[edit]

While most castle scenes in the movieMonty Python and the Holy Grail(1975) were filmed in and aroundDoune Castle, Castle Stalker appears in the final scene as "The Castle of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh". First the castle is seen from a distance; next, a French castle guard (John Cleese) tauntsKing Arthur(Graham Chapman) in a French accent from its battlements; finally, a massive attack is launched against the castle, after which police officers who were investigating the death of a historian earlier in the film arrive and are in the process of arresting Arthur and the other knights for killing him when one officer places his hand over the camera's lens cap and ends the film's visuals. The castle also makes a brief appearance in the filmHighlander: Endgame.[5]

Castle Stalker is the inspiration for "Castle Keep" in the children's book,The Boggart.[6]