We hope you all have a safe and entertaining Halloween!!
Want to know a bit of history on Halloween and how trick or treating came about? Enjoy this short video from National Geographic :)
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Castle of the Week: Bran Castle in Transylvania
Welcome to another rousing addition of Castle of the Week! In honor of our week of spooky posts, I bring you Bran Castle in Romania--commonly referred to as Dracula's Castle...The castle is located on the border of Transylvania and Wallachia. The first fortress dates back to 1211, built by the Teutonic Knights, but they were driven away by 1226. In 1377, Hungarian King Louis the Great (Louis I of Anjou), approved the construction of Bran Castle, and the building was completed by 1388. The castle was occupied by a lord whom the king appointed in order to protect the area and borders.
The castle was leased to the Princes of Transylvania (Saxons of Brasov) from King Vladislav II Jagello, for a couple hundred years, and then was sold in 1651. By 1920, the castle became the royal residence for within the Kingdom of Romania. Today the castle is owned by its legal heirs.
The book, Dracula, by Bram Stoker, was published in 1892, and based off of myths and folklore, and in particular vampires and Transylvania. It was not the first vampire book published, but certainly the most popular. The name Dracula stems from Vlad the Impaler's father's name, Darcul, which he took after being inducted into the Order of the Dragon. Dracul, meant The Dragon, but more specifically today, it means The Devil.I would LOVE to visit this castle one day! Here are some pics...
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| Bran Castle |
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| Looking up at Bran Castle |
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| A cross in the gardens. |
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| A view from the inside of the castle looking down onto the village. |
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| A secret passageway in the castle. |
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Video of the Week: Vlad the Impaler
Since this is the week of All Hallow's Eve (aka Halloween), I wanted to continue with spooky videos. Having just watched the season premiere of the new show Dracula on NBC, I thought it fitting to give you the "real" Dracula. Here is part 1 of 5 videos for the documentary, Vlad the Impaler. Enjoy!
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Tower of London by Mary Gillgannon
Please join me in welcoming today's guest blogger, Mary Gillgannon. She's written a fabulous piece on The Tower of London. Enjoy!
The Tower of London
by Mary Gillgannon
Most people are familiar with the Tower of London England ,
William wanted to be sure he could defend London
from the Saxons, who were seeking to oust him from their country.
It was originally a motte and
bailey castle, which is a defensive tower or keep built on a large earthen mound, the motte, and surrounded by a bailey,
a flat raised area where buildings to maintain the troops were constructed. The
whole complex was surrounded by defensive walls and a ditch. The first keep William
built on the site was of wood. He later replaced it with a stone keep in 1078,
which was called the White
Tower
I mention William’s plans for the
fortress in my book The Conqueror,
when my hero and heroine visit London .
The hero, Jobert de Brevrienne, is a knight in William’s army, while my
heroine, Edeva, is the daughter of the Saxon eorle whose lands have been given
to Jobert by William. The struggle between the Norman French invaders and Saxon
natives forms the background for the book.
Over the years, William’s royal
descendants continued to make improvements to the Tower of London
When I was researching the era of
Henry III for my book The Leopard, I
discovered that the Tower had another use that is seldom mentioned in history. Frederick
III, the Holy Roman Emperor, gave Henry three leopards, in honor of the three
beasts displayed on the royal banner, and these animals were kept at the Tower.
Henry later added a white bear,
presumably a polar bear, which was occasionally allowed to fish in the Thames (What
a sight that must have been!) and an elephant, for which a separate building
was constructed.
The menagerie did not end with
Henry’s reign. Animals were housed at the Tower for the next 600 years. Some of
the species included in the menagerie were monkeys, ostriches, lions, tigers,
wolves, a boa constrictor, grizzly bear, zebras and baboons.
In many cases, the caretakers of
these animals had no idea what to feed them or how to maintain them and many of
the poor creatures did not survive very long. The conditions they lived in would
appall us today, and they undoubtedly distressed compassionate individuals even
back then. Indeed, in The Leopard, my
hero, acclaimed knight Richard Reivers (known as the Black Leopard), takes the
heroine, Astra, to visit the menagerie, and tender-hearted Astra is very
distressed by the cramped, unpleasant living conditions the leopards must
endure. Her reaction to the animals’ distress makes Richard realize how
different she is from all the other women he has known, and he begins to fall
in love with tender-hearted, idealistic Astra.
Starting in the late middle ages
until the 1800’s, the Tower housed some of the most famous prisoners in English
history, including Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Elizabeth I, who was
held in the Tower for eight weeks by her sister Mary during Mary’s brief reign.
(She died before she could execute Elizabeth ,
or English history might be very different.) Today the Tower is a popular
tourist site, and the Crown Jewels are still on display there, as they have
been since 1669. In another note on the Tower’s connection to animals, even
today six ravens are kept at the Tower at all times, due to the legend that if
they are absent, the kingdom will fall.
Mary Gillgannon writes romance novels set in the dark ages,
medieval and English Regency time periods and fantasy and historical novels
with Celtic influences. Her books have been published in Russia, China,
the Netherlands and Germany. Raised in the Midwest, she now
lives in Wyoming and works at public library. She is married and
has two grown children. When not working or writing she enjoys gardening,
traveling and reading, of course!
Website: http://marygillgannon.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.gillgannon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryGillgannon
Friday, October 25, 2013
Musical Notes by Pamela Sherwood
Musical Notes
by Pamela Sherwood
I’ve always loved stories in which music--whether classical,
traditional, or contemporary--plays a major role. So when the time came to write my second
historical romance, A Song at Twilight,
I had no hesitation about making my heroine--established as musically talented
in my first book--a professional singer, and having her love story play out
against the glamorous backdrop of the Victorian music world.
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| The Savoy |
While researching my setting, I was amazed to learn how
prevalent music was as entertainment in Victorian society. For the upper
classes, the opera---usually a Verdi or Wagner production--remained a popular
place to see and be seen, while the wildly popular Gilbert and Sullivan
operettas, staged at the Savoy Theatre, appealed to all strata of society. For
the working and lower classes, there were music halls, burlesques, and even
performances at the local pubs.
Almost every social occasion, from the simplest to the
grandest, was marked by music. Bands and orchestras were routinely hired to
play at balls and dances. Society hostesses engaged professional singers or
talented amateurs to perform at their soirees. And learning how to play an
instrument--most often the piano--was considered a necessary part of a young
middle- or upper-class lady’s education, and schoolchildren of all classes were
taught to sing. Choirs and oratorio societies flourished, as did the sheet
music trade, and most towns could boast at least one brass band.
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| Nellie Melba |
More fascinating discoveries came to light when, while
trying to plot a believable career arc for my heroine, I looked into the lives
of two famous singers of the time, Jenny Lind (1820-1887) and Nellie Melba
(1861-1931). I knew only bits and pieces
about Lind: that she’d been nicknamed the “Swedish Nightingale,” that Hans
Christian Andersen had nursed an unrequited passion for her, and that she’d
toured America as an act promoted heavily by P. T. Barnum (whose advance
publicity made Lind a star even before she arrived in America, creating a
phenomenon known as “Lind mania”). What I didn’t know was that Lind’s career
had almost ended before it had begun when she suffered vocal damage at 18 as a
young opera singer and had to be carefully retrained by the famed singer Manuel
Garcia, who taught her a much sounder technique. Nor did I know that she’d had
close relationships--possibly love affairs--with Felix Mendelssohn and Frédéric
Chopin. Or that, after two successful years on the London operatic stage, she
announced her early retirement from opera at 29, for reasons that remain a
mystery to this day.
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| Jenny Lind |
Lind still continued to sing at concert halls in Europe and,
later, America. She negotiated a high price for the concerts she gave while
touring with Barnum in 1850, donating most of the proceeds to her favorite
charities, which included the endowment of free schools in her native Sweden.
In 1852, she married the German composer and pianist Otto Goldschmidt. The
couple settled in England and had three children. Lind continued to give
concerts, though she retired as a performer in 1883. Appointed professor of singing at the Royal
College of Music (founded in 1882), she instructed her pupils not only in vocal
studies but diction, deportment, piano, and at least one foreign language.
Melba’s life was no less colorful. Australian by birth, she
studied music in Melbourne and achieved some modest success at amateur
concerts. After a brief unsuccessful marriage to an abusive husband, she moved
to Europe with the intent of pursuing a singing career. Failing to catch on in
London, she went to Paris, where she found a dedicated teacher and advocate in
Mathilde Marchesi and ultimately professional success. In 1889, after a
triumphant performance in Romeo et
Juliette, Melba was acknowledged as a star in London as well. During the
1890s, she established herself as the foremost lyric soprano at Covent Garden.
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| Melba toast |
International success also proved within Melba’s grasp when
she sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York during the 1893-1894 season. Despite
New Yorkers’ snobbery against professional singers, Melba’s talent and
determination eventually earned her the same phenomenal success in America that
she enjoyed in London and Paris. So celebrated was Melba that Auguste
Escoffier, the great French chief created no less than four dishes in her
honor: Peach Melba, a concoction of peaches, vanilla ice cream, and raspberry
sauce; Melba sauce, made from pureed raspberries and currants; Melba Toast,
thinly sliced dry toast, often topped with cheese or paté; and Melba Garniture,
tomatoes stuffed with chicken, truffles, and mushrooms in a velouté sauce.
In later years, Melba embarked on a series of highly
profitable tours of her native Australia and taught at the Melbourne
Conservatorium, passing on many of her techniques to promising young singers.
During the First World War she devoted herself to fund-raising for various war
charities, and was created a Dame of the British Empire for her efforts. She
officially retired from Covent Garden in 1926, but continued to perform until
her death in 1931.
Whew! Compared to Lind and Melba, my heroine’s life--despite
a doomed early romance--is quite tame! However, Sophie’s career trajectory is
not dissimilar: like both of her historical counterparts, she benefits from supportive
teachers who help her voice to develop properly. And who guide her steps as she
makes the transition from gifted amateur to seasoned professional, first
touring concert halls, then accepting a role that suits her (in this case,
Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro) for
her operatic debut. And like Lind and
Melba, Sophie commits wholeheartedly to her music, understanding the dedication
that a singer’s work requires, even as love comes knocking at her door, in
hopes of a second chance . . .
Thank you for hosting me today at History Undressed!
Leave a comment for your chance to win one print copy
of A Song at Twilight! (US or Canada
only).
BLURB
Late in England’s
Victorian age, the world is changing–new freedoms, new ideas, and perhaps a
chance for an old love to be new again…
A love too strong to
let go …
Aspiring singer Sophie Tresilian had the world at her
feet–fame, fortune, and true love–until the man of her dreams broke her heart.
Now she’s the toast of Europe, desired by countless men but unwilling to commit
to any of them. Then Robin Pendarvis walks back into her life …
Four years ago, Robin had hoped to make Sophie his bride,
but secrets from his past forced him to let her go. Seeing her again revives
all the old pain–and all the old passion. It might be against every rule, but
somehow, some way, he will bring them together again…
AUTHOR BIO AND
LINKS
Pamela Sherwood grew up
in a family of teachers and taught college-level literature and writing courses
for several years before turning to writing full time. She holds a doctorate in
English literature, specializing in the Romantic and Victorian periods, eras
that continue to fascinate her and provide her with countless opportunities for
virtual time travel. She lives in Southern California where she continues to
write the kind of books she loves to read.
Website: www.pamelasherwood.com
Twitter: twitter.com/#!/pamela_sherwood
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
The Louvre: France's Greatest Castle by McKenna Darby
Welcome back to History Undressed, McKenna Darby! Today she's written a great article on one of my favorite places in Paris, France -- The Louvre. Enjoy!
McKenna Darby writes romantic historical novels set during the French Renaissance and the American Civil War. Visit her at http://mckennadarby.com
THE LOUVRE: FRANCE’S GREATEST CASTLE\
by McKenna Darby
We all know the Louvre as one of the world’s greatest art
museums, but the building that houses the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa
began, in every sense of the word, as a castle.
The Louvre was built in 1190 as a watchtower and fortress.
Its location — on the right bank of the Seine, at the city’s western edge — was
strategically chosen by Philip Augustus, last king of the Franks. His goal was
to protect Paris from my ancestors, the English, whose territory included parts
of what is now western France, just 60 kilometers from Paris.
The Louvre protected the city’s western flank, deterring an
attack by land, and guarding traffic on the Seine, the city’s main commercial
water route. A defensive wall starting at the Louvre was built around the
city’s entire right bank. A second wall, built later, secured the city’s left
bank. (Although largely demolished centuries ago, portions of this wall are
still visible at spots in modern Paris.)
Philip Augustus’ cylindrical watch tower (known as the
Grosse Tour and originally surrounded by a dry moat), was soon expanded with
the addition of a courtyard surrounded by a square wall fitted with turrets. A
water-filled moat was dug around the wall. The original tower became home to
the city’s archives and the kingdom’s treasure. The fortress held the city’s
arsenal.
In the centuries that followed, the Louvre grew and
expanded, becoming the home of French rulers from Charles V in the 14th
century until Louis XIV moved the French court to Versailles in 1682. After the
Revolution, Napoleon again used the Louvre as a home, sharing the space with
the art museum begun when Louis XIV left the city.
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| Louvre from inside Pei's pyramid |
At the start of the Renaissance, Philip Augustus’ Louvre was
demolished, lost to history. Or so we thought until 1983, when excavations for
a new underground visitor’s center beneath a glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei
uncovered the foundations
of the original castle. Today, visitors to the Louvre can walk around those
remarkably preserved foundations, treading where the wet moat once protected the keep, and see the
pediments that supported the drawbridge. Of all the Louvre’s wonders, this
basement display is one of my favorites, almost like stepping into a time
teleportation device.
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| Ancient Moat |
Another favorite spot is the Cour Carrée, the last
externally visible remnant of Francois I’s Louvre . For 100 years after the death of Charles VI, the Louvre
was largely abandoned. That changed in 1527, when Francois decided to leave
behind the Loire Valley and reside in Paris. He demolished Philip Augustus’
fortress and began an entirely new Louvre, which became the foundation for
expansion and renovation by every ruler that followed.
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| Court Carree |
Most of the Louvre’s facades are relatively modern, dating
to the 1800s. But this one courtyard is exactly as Francois, the country’s
first Renaissance king, planned it in the early 1500s. It was completed after the
king’s death by his son, Henri II, who was married to Catherine de Medici.
Catherine was devoted to her husband, whom she adored, but Henri was devoted to
his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Whenever I visit this courtyard, I imagine an
echo of Catherine pacing, seething over some new defeat at the hands of her
rival.
The other place I picture Catherine is in the Chambre de
Parade du Roi, the room where the royal rising ceremony was held in the 16th
century during the reigns of Catherine’s sons, Charles IX and Henri III. The
ornately carved wood paneling in this room, commissioned by Catherine’s husband
Henri II and carved by Scibec de Carpi, is considered the finest Renaissance
paneling that survives in Paris.
In that room, I can almost hear the arguments between Catherine, a Catholic who
fought most of her life for religious tolerance of the growing Protestant
movement (although she is also widely blamed for sparking the largest massacre
of Protestants in French history), and the Duc de Guise, Henri’s uncle and an
avowed Protestant-hater. Pity the king caught between that irresistible force and immovable object.
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| Henri II woodwork |
Ironically, it was not one of Catherine’s sons but her
nephew, the Bourbon Protestant king Henri IV, who built the Grand Galerie
(Grand Gallery) to link the Louvre with Catherine’s pet construction project,
the Tuileries Palace. Henri IV was assassinated before he could finish the
project; it was completed by Louis XIV. The Tuileries burned down in 1871, torched
by an angry political mob, but the Louvre was saved. The Grand Gallery, home to
most of the museum’s Leonardo da Vinci collection, features prominently in Dan
Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code, as
the site of the murder that launches the story.
Another beautiful Louvre spot is the Salle des Caryatids,
named for the four female figures sculpted by Jean Goujon in 1550 to support the
musician’s gallery above.
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| Salle des Caryatids |
When visiting the Louvre, it’s difficult to tear your
attention away from the magnificent paintings on the walls and the sculptures
lining the halls, but don’t forget to look up. The Louvre’s breathtaking ceilings
tell much of its history as a castle.
The Denon Room, named for the Louvre’s first director under
Napoleon I, features a ceiling created for Napoleon III’s legislative
assemblies. It was painted by Charles-Louis Müller to glorify state patronage
in France. Flooded with light from the third story windows that circle it, the
ceiling is one of the castle’s most impressive works of art.
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| Denon Ceiling |
Perhaps the most fitting piece of art in a castle that has
seen so much change and strife is in the former study of Louis XIV. Beginning
in 1722, it was used as a meeting room for the Académie Royal, protectors of
French culture. The ceiling painting in this room is by Jean-Baptiste
Mauzaisse. Created in 1821, ostensibly to celebrate discovery of the Venus de
Milo, the painting has a title that roughly translates: Time Lays Low All
Things of Man.
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| Time Lays Low |
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Video of the Week: Horrible Histories Scary Special Part 2
Last week's video was Horrible Histories Scary Special Part 1, and this week it is Part 2! I just can't get enough of these videos :)
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Video of the Week: Horrible Histories Scary Special Part 1
In celebration of All Hallows Eve (Halloween), this week's video is Horrible Histories Scary Special Part 1. Stay tuned next week for Part 2!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Dragons, Mythology, and Romance by Nancy Lee Badger
Welcome back to History Undresesd, guest blogger, Nancy Lee Badger! Nancy writers historical/paranormal romance. Today she's written a post for us on dragons and mythology! You may remember reading a couple of years ago her post on Dragons of Scotland, if not its worth a read! Enjoy!
Dragons,
Mythology, and Romance
by Nancy Lee Badger for History Undressed
I
love dragons. Who doesn’t? Whether you consider them an extinct species, or
mythological hokum, there is mystery to dragons that make them work in a
paranormal romance novel. They fill books and songs, have been immortalized in
paintings, and their stories have been passed down through folklore. I have
written several books where one of my main characters is a Scottish dragon in
human form. Some have chosen to change into a human while others transform into
a dragon unwillingly.
If you were to open a dictionary, you might see
dragons described as mythical monsters that are traditionally represented as great in
size, having a lion’s claws and serpent tales. They usually have wings, some
have horns, and all are covered by scales. Of course, the word ‘dragon’ is
sometimes used to describe a fiercely vigilant or intractable person, or any of
various lizards, such as the Komodo dragon, or a flying lizard. Representations
of dragons appear in normal life since many countries have adopted them on
their flags, coins, statues, and other decorations.
Why
choose dragons when I could have just as easily wrote about shape-shifting
wolves or cheetahs? We know wolves and big cats are real animals, and people
would most likely relate to them more than to dragons, but I like that dragons
are naturally surrounded by mystery. Who are we to say they do not exist? This
possibility intrigued me. Unicorns give me the same warm feelings, since I love
horses, but I focused on dragons. Maybe a story filled with unicorns will pop
into my head next!
DRAGON Bites, my collection of several
Scottish dragon tales, includes Dragon’s Curse, the story of Draco
and Brianna. I searched maps and the internet for an island that would suit my
story. When I came across a video of Staffa, near the island of Mull, I saw a
huge cave. This cave has been the subject of paintings, and I immediately felt
it would be the perfect place for my hero to hide when in his dragon form.
In
Southern
Fried Dragon, I chose my story’s setting after I visited Fort Sumter in
Charleston Harbor, down in coastal South Carolina. Why couldn’t my heroine be a
Scottish dragon looking for love among a fort filled with soldiers while hiding
from a rogue dragon?
While
researching stories about dragons for these stories, I came across a listing of
Loch Ness. Folk lore says that the Loch Ness monster is a dragon? I was very
surprised since I always thought it might be a trapped dinosaur. The idea
formed into my award-winning short story, Dragon in the Mist. All three of
these stories are available individually in ebook form, but I recently bundled
them into one book that is also available in print.
You
can find more about dragons in books such as:
DRAGONS by Jonathan Evans
You can find information
on dragons at websites such as:
BOOK BLURB:
Dragon Bites
This
is a collection of three novellas. DRAGON’S CURSE, set on the Scottish island
of Staffa in the late 16th century, features a young man cursed to transform
into dragon at inopportune times and the woman he protects. SOUTHERN FRIED
DRAGON pairs a Scottish dragon-turned woman and a federal soldier at Ft. Sumter
on the eve of Civil War. DRAGON IN THE MIST is a contemporary love story on the
shores of Loch Ness.
More
About Nancy Lee Badger
She loves
chocolate-chip shortbread, wool plaids wrapped around the trim waist of a
Scottish Highlander, the clang of broadswords, and the sound of bagpipes in the
air. After growing up in Huntington, New York, and raising two handsome sons in
New Hampshire, she moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time. Nancy is
a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers,
Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, Triangle Area Freelancers,
and the Celtic Heart Romance Writers.
Connect with
Nancy:
DRAGON Bites, a 3book Collection of Dragon Tales
WIN
your own piece of dragon art: Nancy is giving away this beautiful double-sided
window sticker created by Jen Delyth to one person who leaves a comment. Please
include your contact info. Winner will be chosen Friday Oct. 18th.
Friday, October 11, 2013
A Bit of History on Admiral Nelson by Katherine Bone
As a child I held the Captain
Horatio Hornblower movie with Gregory Peck in the highest esteem. Fast
forward to the not so present future, inspired by movies Pirates of the Caribbean, Master
and Commander, and the new BBC series Captain
Horatio Hornblower with Ioan Gruffald, a splendid idea hit me. Why not
write your own series? Eager to combine romance, action and adventure, I set
out to do a lot of research on Admiral Nelson in preparation for a pirate
series I envisioned. The novels would be set between 1800-1806, when England
was battling Napoleon on land and water.
Intriguing facts about Nelson lead me to believe that my
series, the Nelson’s Tea Series, had a factual foundation which then allowed my
imagination to soar. For instance, Nelson was never without his tea. Even
during battle on board his beloved ship he was known to enjoy tea time. The
young son of a vicar, Nelson took to the sea under the guidance of his uncle,
Captain Maurice Suckling. As the years passed, Nelson advanced through the
ranks, gaining a reputation for courage and devotion to both country and his
men. Prone to seasickness, he contracted Malaria in India and was a victim of
reoccurring illness throughout the rest of his life. That, however, did not
stop him from doing his duty.
But no man is without faults. Nelson was a man dealing with
demons. Vanity, and the desire to be applauded, catapulted him into the
spotlight so much so that even his deteriorating marriage and the love he felt
for a married woman teased the gossip mills. If not for his success, he would
have been shunned in early Regency society. He would have faced court martial
for disobeying orders and reacting on gut instinct, instinct that provided one
English victory after another.
In late 1801, Admiral Nelson returned to England to recover
from another bout with recurring malaria. At that time, he was tasked by the
Admiralty Board to devise a method for protecting England’s shores. In my
Nelson’s Tea Series, Nelson did just that by acquiring the help of Lord Simon
Danbury, famed pirate hunter. Together, they enlisted the help of first sons
willing to disguise themselves in the king’s service. Twenty men were trained
in mercenary tactics and sent on missions of utmost secrecy. Duke by Day, Rogue by Night and The Rogue’s Prize follow Lord Percival
Avery’s and Captain Henry Guffald’s adventures in 1804 and 1805.
Are you surprised that Nelson carried on an affair with a
married woman? That she gave birth to their illegitimate daughter, Horatia,
while still married to her husband? That Nelson lived with both Lord Hamilton
and Lady Hamilton when he returned to England in 1801?
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Castle of the Week: Eilean Donan
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| I took this pic from the parking lot :) Isn't it magical? |
Eilean Donan was built on an island in the middle of Loch Duich. You may have seen the picturesque castle with its stone bridge. There is a central tower and walled courtyard. Surrounded by water on all sides, the enemy had only two ways to reach the castle -- by water or by bridge. Either way, the guards would have seen them coming. The castle had the perfect defensive position.
The castle was a stronghold for the Mackenzies of Kintail. Robert the Bruce sheltered there in 1306--which was the prime reason I used the castle as his base in several of my Stolen Bride books (though I used creative license to move that date back a bit.) In 1504, the castle was captured by the Earl of Huntly, and severeal years later the MacRaes took charge. By 1539, the MacDonald's laid siege to Eilean Donan. By the 17th century, the Mackenzies had gained enough power to take back their castle. Their chief was titled Earl of Seaforth. During the Jacobite era, they had Spanish troops garrisoned there, but unfortunately for such an amazing castle, three English frigates battered the castle with canon fire. When their fire barely breached the 14 foot thick walls, they sent their men ashore, and those occupying the castle surrendered. As if surrendering wasn't enough, they lit 343 barrels of gunpowder, letting them explode within the tower, crumbling Eilean Donan.
The earl stripped of his lands and titles (which the clan later regained but the title became extinct in 1815), the castle would stand in ruins until the 20th century when it was rebuilt.
The castle as it stands today, is a rebuild. Bought by Lt Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap and his wife in 1911, he spent the next twenty years reconstructing the castle to its former glory (with a few added perks like electricity!). Eilean Donan remains a residence to this day--however it is open to visitors.
Check out the pics from my visit! We weren't allowed to take pics form inside, so I only have some from the outside.
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| One of my favorite pics I took of the castle--see the reflection of the castle in the water? |
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| This is a picture I took from the right side of the bridge. |
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| Standing at the gate and gazing down the stone bridge. |
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| Me on the beautiful bridge to Eilean Donan! |
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| This is a view of the castle after walking to the end of the bridge. Imposing and awe-inspiring. It really takes you back. The reconstruction really did justice to this medieval castle. |
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| Stone stairs near the front of the castle leading down to the shore of Loch Duich. |
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| Main doors leading to a small inner courtyard. Can you see that little square? That's about my height, so the doors were very tall. |
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| An arrow-slit window several yards to the left of the main door. |
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| Stairs near the back leading down to water and a large walking area. |
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| Once we crossed through the main door, these curling stairs were to the left. |
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| Standing at the bottom of the circular stair and looking up. That is the door into what was made into a billiard room, but in my stories, it served as hall for warriors. |
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| At the top of those same circular stairs looking down. That arch leads to the main door. |
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| From the 3rd story a picture out the window. |
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| Standing behind the castle, I took a pic of the loch. |
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| From behind the castle, a look up the imposing walls. |
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| Again from behind. I wandered into the grassy area and took a pic. |
Hope you enjoyed these pics from my visit to Eilean Donan! If you want to take a virtual tour of the castle, you can visit their website: http://www.eileandonancastle.com/
Check out my award-winning, best-selling Stolen Bride series!
Out now in ebook, print and audio from Amazon, B&N, ITunes/Books, Kobo, Sony, Audible:
and releasing later this month... The Highlander's Sin!
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