Rait Castle

The courtyard to the south of the hall incorporates a steep granite outcrop and a wall standing to about 9 feet (2.7 m) in height and approximately 2.5 feet (0.76 m) thick.^[2] The hall-house measures approximately 54 feet (16 m) by 22 feet (6.7 m) and stands up to 36 feet (11 m) in height.^[2] The ground floor was used for storage, while the upper hall was entered from an external stair and defended by a portcullis and drawbar.^[2] The walls of the castle are nearly 6 feet (1.8 m) 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 (4.0 m).^[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.^[5] The laird blamed his daughter, whom he chased around the castle.^[5] She climbed out of a window but he chopped off her hands and she fell to her death.^[5] The castle is said to be haunted by her ghost,^[5] 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.^[6]