Bute

Cabinet 7

This 19th century lithograph depicts Rothesay Castle in ruins. Built by the Stewart family sometime in the early 13th century, it eventually became a royal residence.

Because of its age, and features such as a broad moat, four round towers, and large circular walls, it was once described as ‘one of the most remarkable in Scotland’. When Haakon first laid siege to it in the 1230s, it took three days for his men to break through the eastern wall with axes.

Today the castle is in better shape, restored by the work of the Bute family and, since 1961, owned and operated by Historic Scotland.

‘Rothesay Castle’, Isle of Bute. From John Parker Lawson’s Scotland Delineated. London: Day and Son, 1858.