Milntown Castle facts for kids
Milntown Castle was an old castle built in the early 1500s. It was located near Milton in Easter Ross, a beautiful area in the Scottish Highlands. Today, most of the castle is gone, but its story is still interesting!
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The Story of Milntown Castle
The castle was built by a family known as the Munro of Milntowns. They were a part of the larger Clan Munro.
Around 1656, the castle and its land were sold to George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie. He was also known as George MacKenzie of Tarbet. He decided to change the name of the estate to New Tarbat. This new name came from his family's original home, Tarbat Castle (which is now called Ballone Castle).
George Mackenzie had Milntown Castle taken down. Only a small part of its basement remains today. He then built a new, grand house nearby. The old castle's remains were even made into part of the garden! Later, in 1787, that new house was also replaced. A Georgian-style house, now known as Tarbat House, was built by one of his family members, John Mackenzie, Lord MacLeod.
What We Know About the Castle
Even though Milntown Castle no longer stands, we can still learn about it from old books. Two important books that describe the building are History of the Earldom of Sutherland by Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet (written in the early 1600s) and History of the Munros of Fowlis by Alexander Mackenzie (historian) (written in 1898).
Sir Robert Gordon's Description
Sir Robert Gordon wrote about the castle's beginnings:
Around the year 1500, the Munros of Milntown started building Milntown Castle. Their neighbours, the Rosses of Balnagowan, tried to stop them. But John, Earl of Sutherland, personally went to defend the Munros against the Rosses' threats. After returning home to Sutherland, he left some men at Milntown to protect them until most of the castle was finished. The Munros of Milntown still remember this kindness today.
This shows that building a castle was a big deal and sometimes led to disagreements between families!
Alexander Mackenzie's Description
Alexander Mackenzie shared more details about the castle and what happened to it:
When Sir George MacKenzie of Tarbet bought Milntown Castle and its land, he changed the name to Tarbat. This was after his own title, as he was a Lord of Session called Lord Tarbet. But local people still call the place in Gaelic "Balie-Mhuillinn Andrea." The only parts of the old castle that are left are the door of the vault and the tall terraces near where it stood. In 1728, Viscount Tarbet hired builders to "throw down Munro's old work," clear the ground, and build a new house. Some of the oldest people in Milntown village still remember their parents, who helped tear down Milntown Castle, saying (perhaps with a bit of exaggeration) that the hall was so big "that the music fiddles at one end could not be heard at the other." The castle is said to have been the most elegant and beautiful in the North, wonderfully decorated with turrets. It stood close to the current mansion. In the grounds near the old building were many lovely trees. One large beech tree was called "Queen Mary's tree." People thought Queen Mary herself might have planted it when she visited Beauly Priory. It was over 100 feet tall. People say it took a whole week to cut it down, and it was so heavy and hard to move that it had to be buried where it fell.
This account gives us a vivid picture of the castle's size and beauty, even though it's gone. It also shows how stories and memories of old buildings can last for a very long time!
