Auchindoun Castle

Once a mighty stone stronghold sat astride an already ancient fortification. An old folk ballad, The burning of Auchindoun, tells of the fiery attack by Clan Mackintosh. “As A cam in by Fiddichside, on a May mornin A spied Willie MacIntosh an oor before the dawnin Tarn again, tarn again, tarn again, A’se bid ye

If ye barn Auchindoun, Huntly he will heid ye...” The aftermath was also a tragic story retold here.

ABOUT THE CASTLE Visitor Details

No website.

No telephone.

The castle site is open all year.

No facilities.

Nearby Dufftown has several restaurants.

A well-rendered illustration on a display panel by the castle depicts the tower house as it used to be: three storeys high also with a vaulted cellar and a wine store. The surrounding buildings included stables, a kitchen and the essential brew house.

Location: Auchindoun Castle is two miles south of Dufftown on the A941, Morayshire. The path to the castle can be accessed from the Dufftown to Rhynie main road by following a track to a small car park. Access is on foot only from here. The steep path is slippery when wet. Treat this as a short half-mile hill walk and take all your own food and drinks. On the route, you will pass a large stone structure housing a spring and also a ruined farmhouse.

The aerial views show the surrounding ditches that are the remains of an Iron or Bronze Age fort although, as with many of those structures, dating evidence has not been found. Agriculture and quarrying has disturbed much of the ground, adding to the difficulty of interpretation. The castle’s hilltop location provides excellent views of the main route between Strathspey and Aberdeenshire (when it is not raining or snowing). Horsemen from the castle could quickly check passing wagons and groups on foot, keeping control of trade. The earliest mentions of this castle site note that John the Earl of Mar was the occupier. He met his end when visiting Craigmillar Castle, where his brother King James III murdered him. After that the King gifted Auchindoun to his friend, master mason Robert Cochrane, with a suggestion that he use his skills to fix it up. He was later killed by being hung from Lauder Bridge in 1482 after falling out with nobles who were led by the Earl of Angus. By 1489, Clan Ogilvy were the residents but only for a generation because the Gordons took over some time between 1535 and 1567.

Sir Adam Gordon of Auchindoun Castle favoured the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots to take on the crown of Scotland. However, others wanted the infant James VI as the next king. This conflict erupted locally when the Forbes Clan, just 20 miles south at Corgarff Castle, championed the cause of young James. A clash was inevitable. However, the manner of attacking the Forbes family at Corgarff sent shockwaves of horror across medieval Scotland in the winter of 1571. With no Forbes clansmen at Corgarff, the siege should have been short. However, the wife of

John Forbes injured a Gordon clansman with a pistol shot to his knee. In a fury, Adam Gordon ringed the small Corgarff Castle with brushwood and set the fire in such a way that none of the 28 women and children trapped inside survived.

Clan Mackintosh surrounded Auchindoun in 1591 and the ensuing siege badly damaged the buildings. The setting of fires below castles often destroyed the timber supports inside towers, causing floors to collapse. The clan sought revenge for the murder of an ally, the Bonny Earl of Moray, at Donibristle by Sir Patrick Gordon. He only had the castle for two more years because the king declared him to be a rebel and the estate was forfeited to Sir George Home. He was a diplomat and used funds from his influential position in the Royal household to fund a lavish manor house in Berwick. It is doubtful he ever visited the windswept remains at Auchindoun.

The Ogilvys came back into ownership in 1594. When Charles II returned to the throne he awarded the castle to the Marquis of Huntly in 1660. The upkeep and repair costs had risen so much that the decline back to ruin was inevitable. By 1725, stones were being robbed for other buildings in the region, such as Balvenie Castle. Enough remained to provide shelter for Jacobite troopers in the first rising in 1689.

Until fairly recently, the masonry was unsafe but after consolidation by Historic Scotland the castle reopened to visitors. During these works, a large deeply cut mysterious chamber in the bedrock was rediscovered inside the castle which remains on view to the public.