Good Morning Adventurers,
Once again, we will be going back in time to take a look at some more castles. Don’t worry, I am still writing, I’m just kinda hyper fixated on talking about castles because I have a ton of photos that I want to share. There are other locations that I want to talk about as well, so I’ll eventually get around to those, but for now—Castles! So today I’ll be talking about Rait Castle and Skelbo Castle.
Rait Castle
To find this castle, we had to drive down some back roads, and then more back roads, then down a road meant for a farmers field. Rait castle isn’t a big castle by any means. Fortification wise, it’s got thick walls but that’s about it. It doesn’t take long to walk around the building since it’s not much bigger than a large two story house. There weren’t any exterior wall fortifications around it either and the castle itself is essentially a large hall.
So here is the interior of the ruins, which honestly look in amazing condition. The walls are in great shape, not requiring any form of support to help keep them standing. Not shown in the picture is a fire pit formed with stones that may have been left there by some teenagers. To which, I think they picked an excellent spot to make their camp. The teenager still in me would have 100% stayed a night or two out in those ruins had they been in my backyard/hometown.
Now, it’s also evident in this picture that there potentially was a second floor though it is hard to tell if that second floor covered the entire floor or if it was just a balcony that ran along the wall of the castle. Personally, a balcony would probably work better than a second floor, but that’s because I’m think about how much cooler it would look than practicality.
Before continuing on, in the photo above, when my wife and I arrived to this set of ruins, there were other people there. At first we thought they were tourists as well, however one of the people had asked us if we were there for the wedding as well. Turns out, in about an hour from when we had arrived, a wedding was going to be taking place right where the center of the hall would have been. To add to the atmosphere, there was a violinist warming up in the still standing tower of the ruins which only added to the atmosphere of the place.
Now, if you look at the people in the frame, you can clearly see the size of the castle compared to a person. The thickness of the walls were at least the shoulder width of one person, while the walls clearly stand at twenty to thirty feet tall. So I can only imagine what this place must’ve been like prior to it’s decay, if anything, it really gets the imagination going. With the violin playing in the background around my wife and I, it’s easy to imagine this space filled with music and fire burning in a hearth at the center of the hall. KInda ironic now that I think about it and look at the fire ring in the picture above.
Anyway, the biggest feeling that I really dig about this location was it’s simplicity. I wish this building had been renovated and repaired just so I can see the place alive. Imagining what the ceiling looks like while music is being played by a local band. People dancing and twirling around the hall in celebration of the marriage between two noble families. I could even imagine what this hall would smell like with all of the food just sitting there, eagerly waiting to be devoured by the hungry guests. Though, not a massive fortification like in the movies, this castle ruin stands as one of my favorite castles to have visited.
Skelbo Castle
So, this castle was really interesting to find. After driving along the coast for a bit, you eventually seen the walls of this ruin perched atop of a hill with trees behind it. You then turn down a road that looks like a private drive and [we] parked next to a cottage that looks like an Airbnb. Then you walk up this packed road(?) that eventually brings you to the gates of the ruins. Well, I say gate, but it may be the wall to mark off the boundaries of property that the castle sits on. That wall is in much better shape than the castle is.
Anyways, in the photo above, you are looking at (in my opinion) may be the main keep/hall of the entire castle ruins. It’s hard to tell but there are three rooms in this picture, the first two clearly being show as two stories in the castle to the left there. However, further down there is a wall on the ground floor that divides the ground floor into two chambers, while the upper floor remains as open space like a hall.
Here’s another look at the interior of that hall, and I would have gone inside of this part of the castle had it not been for all of the scaffolding. Despite how sturdy it had looked, the scaffolding told me that it was very much not secure. Anyways, this next section of the castle was the part that you could see from the road down below, and from where I stood, it would have been very difficult in assaulting the castle from that side of the castle.
So, just to draw the picture, the one on the left is the side that you can see when you walk up to the castle. The ruin itself looks like the remains of a larger building/keep, while the smaller stone work to the right looks like it may have been a wall that bared people from attacking in that direction. This smaller wall nearly wraps around the peak of the hill and may have looped back around to connect with the still standing part of the castle. It doesn’t look that intimidating, and that small wall may realistically be about ten feet tall, but then you look at the photo to the right and it all makes sense.
The hillside is so steep that this short wall is more than enough to prevent someone from storming over it easily. Even a ladder would have a hard time finding purchase in the ground and would need to be really close to the wall in order to be effective. Thus, that is where my mind went when standing alongside and inside these ruins. I imagined a night sky lit up by torchlight as the enemy charged up the hill with ladders, attempting to take the wall. I can imagine war drums and bagpipes playing to boost the enemy moral while the defenders scramble into their armor and grabbing their weapons. Even more so, as the lord of the castle dons on armor himself, leading the defenses of the castle as he kicks over a ladder pressed up against the wall. Though your garrison is small, they are well trained and prepared for this as they now file out onto the wall with their spears and pikes. Man, what I’d give to participate in the recreation of siege/medieval siege/combat.
I think that’s a good place to stop for now. I hope that whoever is reading these simple updates of mine are enjoying these little tangents. I will eventually get back to talking about my own personal work, but just indulge me for these next few weeks or so. Anyways, I will leave you with one more update and blessing for all to have another great week. Keep on seeking out those Adventures in everything that you do!
—A.G.F.
A.G. Flowers 
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