Carrick Castle

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Carrick, an old forsaken castle in Lochgoilhead parish, Argyllshire, near the middle of the W side of Loch Goil. It stands on a rocky peninsular platform, formerly defended on the land sides by a deep moat, a drawbridge over which was flanked by two small towers. An irregular oblong structure, 66 feet long, 38 wide, and 64 high, it is now unroofed, but otherwise fairly entire; dates from the end of the 15th century, perhaps much earlier, being thought to occupy the site of a Scandinavian fort; was a royal stronghold, held by the Earls of Argyll as hereditary keepers; and, prior to the invention of gunpowder, could be taken only by surprise, yet, on one occasion, was burned by the men of Athole.

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Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer