Castle Sween

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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Castle-Swin, a ruined fortalice in North Knapdale parish, Argyllshire, crowning a rock on the eastern shore of Loch Swin, 2 miles from its mouth. Traditionally said to have been built in the early part of the 11th century by Sweno, Prince of Denmark, it includes portions whose date must be very much later; it measures 105 feet in length and 35 feet in height; and its walls are 7 feet thick. It figured long and prominently in the wars which desolated the Western Mainland and the Hebrides; it afterwards was occupied as a royal fort, in the hereditary keeping of the Earls of Argyll; and it was besieged, captured, and burned by Montrose's lieutenant, Macdonald of Kolkitto.

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