The Castles And Keeps Of Scotland Author:Frank Roy Fraprie Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE CASTLES OF ARGYLLSHIRE One of the most popular approaches from Glasgow to Oban, the principal town of Argyllshire, is by Loch Fyne. Leaving... more » Green- ock or Gourock by steamer, we pass Dunoon, with its scanty remains of a keep of the time of Bruce — the first castle captured by him when he rose against Baliol. The town is a thriving summer resort, much frequented by the citizens of Glasgow. Not much farther on, the steamer leaves the Clyde to enter the Kyles of Bute. Just within the entrance is Rothe- say Castle, previously described, picturesquely situated in the town of the same name, also a summer resort. On the other side of the strait, on Toward Point, stands Toward Castle. This consists of a fifteenth century keep, about forty by thirty feet, with a large courtyard of later date. The keep was four stories high, two of which were vaulted. The entrance door is a dozen feet from the ground, on the level of the first floor. The courtyard buildings are of considerable extent, indicating a structure of some little importance in its day. The gateway is a beautifully carved arch. Toward belonged to the family of Lamont. It has not been inhabited since 1646, when the Campbells attempted to exterminate the whole clan of the Lamonts. Two hundred of them defended the castle, but were starved into surrendering, when the most horrible cruelties were perpetrated on them, from their leader, Sir James Lamont, down. No less than thirty- six of them were hanged in the charred and bloody ruins of their devastated house, which has never since been occupied. Leaving Rothesay, the steamer traverses the Kyles of Bute, a narrow strait between the island of Bute and the mainland, famed for its beautiful scenery. Skipness Castle As we pass out of the strait to roun...« less