Rait Castle

The remains of the courtyard walls are nine feet high and also contain the remains of the Chapel of St Mary of Rait.[5] The building was a two story building, measuring 20 metres by 10 metres.[6] It had an unvaulted basement and an upper hall.[6] The hall was entered from the outside and was protected by a portcullis and a drawbar.[6] The walls of the castle are nearly 6 feet thick.[2] A tower projects from one corner of the castle and there is a garderobe tower on the west side that projects nearly 13 feet.[2]

The castle was originally a property of the Comyn family, who took the name of de Rait.[1] Sir Alexander Rait killed the third Thane of Cawdor (chief of Clan Calder), and then fled south where he married the heiress of Hallgreen.[3] The castle later passed from the de Raits to the Mackintosh family and then to the Campbell family.[3]

In 1442,[1] when the castle passed to the Mackintoshes from the de Rait family, a feast was held at the castle between the two families which ended in the slaughter of most of the Comyns and de Raits.[7] The laird blamed his daughter, whom he chased around the castle.[7] She climbed out of a window but he chopped off her hands and she fell to her death.[7] The castle is said to be haunted by her ghost,[7] with no hands.[1]

The Duke of Cumberland is said to have stayed at the castle before the Battle of Culloden in 1746,[3] although the last recorded reference to the castle was in 1596.[2]

American singer Bonnie Raitt is a descendant of the Rait clan, and visited Rait Castle in 1990.[8]

• Stand Up for Rait Castle! saveraitcastle.org
• Rait Castle canmore.rcahms.gov.uk. (Canmore)