| Rait Castle | |
|---|---|
 Ruins of Rait Castle | |
  Rait Castle | |
| Coordinates | 57°32′58″N 3°51′00″W / 57.5494°N 3.8499°W |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Earl Cawdor[1] |
| Site history | |
| Built | 13th century |
| Materials | Granite[2] |
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Rait Castle is a ruined hall-house castle dating from the thirteenth century, situated just south of Nairn near Inverness, Scotland.[3] It is a scheduled monument.[4]
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]