There are hundreds of castles in Great Britain, and we know we can’t see them all – even if we wanted to. So we are being selective about the ones we do see. So far we have seen three. The first was Culzean (pronounced Cul-ane) on the coast in Ayrshire, a majestic family estate belonging to the Kennedy family of Scottish shipbuilding fame.

Culzean Castle

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We saw the second and third castles yesterday: Eilean Donan, after returning to the mainland from the Isle of Skye, and Urquhart farther east on the banks of Loch Ness on our way to Inverness.

Eilean Donan castle

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Both Eilean Donan and Urquhart were actual fortresses in their day, and both were blown up during the Jacobite Rebellions in the 18th century. Eilean Donan was partially restored in the 20th century, but Urquhart was left in ruins. Funny, but I think I like the ruins better.

Urquhart castle

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Brief history lesson, which the Scots take very seriously to this day: When the Catholic King James (VII of Scotland and II of England) Stuart was kicked off the throne in 1688 in favor of his Protestant daughter Mary (of William and Mary), his Catholic supporters in Scotland (Jacobites) staged various rebellions against the English to try to bring the Stuart family back to Scotland – just one series in a long history of Scottish-English tussles over the years. The Jacobites were unsuccessful, and Scotland has been largely Protestant since.