Brochel

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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Brochel, a group of dilapidated strong ancient buildings in Portree parish, Skye, Inverness-shire, on a ledgy rock, at the head of a small bay, near the middle of the E side of Rasay island. A small building of two low stories, with a narrow interior court, stands on a lower shelf of the rock, outward to its very edge; and another small building of two low stories, surmounted by battlements, and recessed with two triangular loop-holed apartments, occupies all the summit of the rock. The only access to the lower building is an ascent on the seaward side, so steep that it can be climbed only on all-fours, or at least with the aid of the hands; the approach to the higher building is through a narrow steep-roofed passage between the lower building and the base of the upper stage of the rock; and the entire character of the place, as to both natural position and artificial structure, is so strong as to exhibit the very beau-ideal of adaptation to security and defence in the ages preceding the invention of gunpowder. The last occupant is said to have been a person of extraordinary prowess, a chief of the Macleods, in the time of James VI., bearing the soubriquet of Eoin Garbh, or ` John the Athletic '

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

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