Cawdor Castle

Cawdor Castle

A Highland tower in the trees

Cawdor Castle stands among gardens and woodland in the Highlands, east of Inverness and not far from the town of Nairn. At its heart is a strong stone tower, built in the late fourteenth century, with later ranges of buildings, turrets and a drawbridge added around it over the centuries. It has been the home of the Thanes — and later Earls — of Cawdor for hundreds of years, and members of the family live there still, which gives the castle the warm, lived-in feeling of a real home rather than a cold ruin.

The donkey, the gold and the thorn tree

Cawdor has one of the best castle-building legends in Scotland. According to the story, the Thane of Cawdor wished to build a new castle but could not decide where to put it. He was told in a dream to load a donkey with gold, let it wander freely for a day, and build wherever the animal chose to lie down at nightfall. The donkey roamed across the countryside and finally settled to rest beneath a hawthorn — a thorn tree — and there the tower was built, right around the tree itself.

The wonderful part is that the legend may hold a grain of truth. Deep inside the castle, in a vaulted basement room, the remains of an ancient tree still stand. When experts tested the old wood, they found it dated from around the year 1372 — almost exactly when the tower was built. Whether or not a donkey was really involved, it does seem that Cawdor's builders chose to raise their castle around a living tree.

Cawdor and Macbeth

Cawdor is famous all over the world because of William Shakespeare. In his play Macbeth, three witches greet the hero with the prophecy that he will become "Thane of Cawdor" and then king, setting the whole tragedy in motion. Because of this, the castle is forever linked to murder and ambition in people's minds.

It is worth remembering, though, that this is a story, not history. The real Macbeth was a king who lived in the eleventh century, long before the present castle was built in the fourteenth. So while the name is genuinely ancient, the connection between this beautiful castle and Shakespeare's play is a legend rather than a true event — a piece of literary magic that has made a quiet Highland home famous far and wide.

A family home and its gardens

Cawdor is as well known for its gardens as for its history. Around the old tower lie beautiful walled and woodland gardens, full of flowers, hedges and winding paths, with a maze and nature trails nearby. Inside, the castle is filled with fine furniture, tapestries and family treasures gathered over many generations.

Visiting today

To visit Cawdor is to step into a castle that is still very much alive. Visitors can tour the rooms, see the ancient thorn tree in its vault, wander the famous gardens, and enjoy a place where real history and good storytelling have grown together for more than six hundred years — donkey, gold, thorn tree and all.