Braemar Castle

Stand still for a moment and listen. The wind moves through the pines on the hillside, and somewhere below you the water runs over stones. In front of you rises a pale, harled tower. Harling is a rough coat of lime and gravel that Scottish builders threw onto stone walls to keep out the weather. Here, high in the Cairngorms, the weather is a serious opponent. The walls catch the light differently every hour, grey in the morning and warm cream as the sun drops.

This is Braemar Castle. It began life in the early seventeenth century, in 1628, as a hunting lodge for John Erskine, the Earl of Mar. Hunting was a political act in the Highlands. Great lords gathered allies, hosted guests, and showed off their land. But a lodge in this landscape also needed to be defended. So the building you see is not a delicate country house. It is a tower house, built to sleep comfortably and to resist attack.

Look at the shape of the main building. It follows what architects call an L-plan, two blocks joined at a corner. That corner held the main stair, so defenders could cover the entrance from above. Round turrets sit high on the corners, supported on projecting stone brackets called corbels. They give the castle its fairy-tale outline. In practice, they gave a clear view along the walls, so nobody could reach the door unseen.

Now for the first turn in the story. Barely sixty years after it was built, the castle was set on fire. In 1689, Scotland was split by the first Jacobite rising. Jacobites were supporters of the exiled Stuart king, James the Seventh. A local laird, John Farquharson of Inverey, burned the castle. He wanted to stop government troops from using it as a base. His nickname was the Black Colonel, and his name still hangs over this place.

For decades afterwards the building stood as a burnt shell. Then came another rising, and the Earls of Mar were at its centre again. In 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the Jacobite standard here in Braemar. That rising failed. The earl went into exile, and his estates were taken by the Crown. In the 1730s the Farquharsons of Invercauld bought the castle and its lands. Old rivals of the Earls of Mar now held their tower.

Here is the second surprise. After the final Jacobite rising of 1745, the government leased the castle back. It became a garrison for redcoat soldiers, sent to watch over the Highlands. The army rebuilt the interior. It also added the low wall you can see around the tower. That wall forms a star shape, with sharp points. The points let soldiers fire along the face of the wall at anyone trying to climb it.

If you go inside, look closely at the old wooden panels and shutters. The soldiers who were posted here were often bored, cold and far from home. Some of them carved their names, initials and dates into the woodwork. These marks are graffiti from the eighteenth century. They are small, scratchy and very human. Standing beside them, you meet real people who stood at these same windows and looked out at these same hills.

As you walk through, notice the entrance. Many Scottish castles used an iron gate called a yett. It is a heavy grille of interlocking iron bars, closed behind the wooden door. Notice too how thick the walls are at the windows. The deep openings show how much stone stands between you and the outside. Lower down, the castle also had a pit prison. This was a dark chamber that prisoners were lowered into from above.

The soldiers eventually left in the nineteenth century, and the Farquharsons took the castle back as a family home. The rooms changed again. They filled with portraits, furniture, tartan and the objects of a Highland family. This is why the interior feels layered. A soldier's carving can sit only a few steps from a family's drawing room. The house never belonged to a single period. Each owner left something behind.

And now the twist that makes this castle unusual today. In 2007, the Farquharson family leased the castle to the people of Braemar. A community company took over its care. It is often described as the first castle in Scotland to be run by its own community. Local volunteers have guided visitors, raised money and repaired the building. A major restoration followed, including work on the lime harling, to keep water out of the old stone.

No Highland castle is complete without its stories, and Braemar has several. Locals say the Black Colonel still makes his presence known. In one popular tale, his ghost appears as a flickering candle or a sense of being watched. Another legend tells of a young bride who died here and still walks the rooms. These are folklore, not history. But they show how strongly people here remember the fire of 1689.

Step outside again and look at the setting. The castle stands just outside the village of Braemar, near where the Clunie Water meets the River Dee. Behind you the land rises toward the Cairngorm mountains. This is one of the highest villages in Scotland, and winter here can be fierce. The royal estate of Balmoral lies further down the Dee valley. Braemar itself is known for its Highland Games, held each summer.

Before you leave, stand back by the star-shaped wall and look up at the tower once more. Notice the turrets against the sky and the pale harling on the walls. Listen again for the river and the wind in the trees. A hunting lodge, a ruin, a barracks, a family home, and now a community's project. All of it is still here in the stone. As you walk away, look back once. The castle looks small against the hills, and it has lasted through all of it.