Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Caledonian Canal

Facts & History

Loch Ness - Scotland probably the most famous Lake in the world, extends from Fort Augustus in the South to the narrows of Bona Ferry in the north, a distance of almost 23 miles. The waters of Loch Ness cover an area of almost 22 square miles and at it's deepest has a depth of 754 feet. The most surprising statistic is the volume of water contained in the Loch which is estimated to be 263 000 million cubic feet. This exceeds that of any other Loch or lake in Great Britain and is three times greater than Loch Lomond.

Loch Ness is famed throughout the world for its Loch Ness monster, more often called Nessie. There have been numerous monster sightings over many years and the usual description is of a small head at the end of a long neck, with a broad body with humps. Nessie is also described as having four flippers and a long tail with a rounded end.

Jacobite offers no opinion to the existence of a monster on Loch Ness but we do suggest a visit to the official Loch Ness 2000 Exhibition at Drumnadrochit, where all the available 'monster' evidence is displayed. This will allow you to form your own personal opinion of Nessie. But whatever you believe, one of the best ways to test your own beliefs is to join us aboard a Jacobite boat for a Loch Ness cruise and take a close look for yourself!

Castle Urquhart (pronounced "urkhurt") stands on a rocky promontary on the north shore of Loch Ness. As soon as you get here you cant help thinking, "Well, if I were going to build a castle to survey this wide glen, and the loch itself, this is where I'd build it!" In fact people were almost certainly here at least 4000 years ago. At nearby Corrimony is a burial cairn dating from about 2000 BC. However, although some evidence has been found of a fort on this promontory dating from the Iron Age, and also remains from Pictish times, earliest written records for the existence of a castle date from the 1200's.

Loch Ness cuts a great divide along what is called Glen Mor, or The Great Glen, a 60 mile fissure scoured by glaciers during the last ice age. The Loch itself is over 700 feet deep, and the nearby surrounding hills rise by about the same amount. At the north east end, where the waters of the loch flow along the River Ness through Inverness and into the North Sea, is the flatter and more fertile land of Moray.

In 1228 the people of Moray rose up against the authority of King Alexander II (1198 - 1249). By 1230 he had put down the revolt and, as conquerors often do, established his own loyal men in charge of estates in the area. He granted his son-in-law Alan Durward the lordship of Urquhart, and it is almost certain that the earliest parts of medieval castle date from his time. After his death in 1275 the castle passed to John Comyn, appointed by Edward I of England. After a series of humiliating defeats John Balliol (1250 - 1296) had relinquished his kingship, and much of Scotland and many of its castles, including Urquhart, were under English control. This was the time the Stone of Destiny was taken from Scone to London, and also the time that William Wallace began his campaign against English rule when he killed an English sheriff at Lanark.

In 1297 Andrew Moray of Moray led a night-time attack on the castle which failed, but sometime later Sir Alexander Forbes retook it for Scotland.
But that wasn't the end of it; in 1303 Edward again took the castle, but his garrison under Alexander Comyn of Badenoch was soon annihilated by Robert the Bruce who was to be crowned King of Scotland in 1306.
By 1346 ownership of the castle passed from the Earls of Moray back to the Scottish Crown again, and it seems likely that with Crown money much substantial building and repair was completed at this time.

Throughout the end of the 1300's and well into the 1400's Castle Urquhart fell again and again to Clan MacDonald, Lords of the Isles only to be retaken again and again by the Crown. The only consequence was the suffering and devastation of the ordinary people living in the Great Glen. Eventually the MacDonald's power was temporarily curbed in this area and for about 35 years the Grants of Freuchie looked after the castle on behalf of the Gordons of Huntly. But soon the MacDonalds were back; in the 1500's they besieged it twice, again leaving the ordinary local inhabitants of the Glen dead and devastated.

By the 1600's the castle was abandoned by the Grants to the people of the Glen. Those walls which had for so long been a cause of suffering to them, now became their comfort as they dismantled masonry and removed stones to build their own houses.

Finally, in 1689 when the last Stewart King, James II of England and VII of Scotland, was exiled, one Captain Grant and 300 Highlanders saw off a force of James's supporters. The garrison left the ruins in 1692. The castle was not repaired, and about 25 years later it was reported that a "Storme of Wind" had blown down the south west side of the main tower house.

  Nessie -The Loch Ness Monster
The Great Glen in the Scottish highlands is a rift valley 60 miles long and contains three famous lochs, Lochy, Oich and Ness. The most famous of these is Loch Ness because of the monster said to 'lurk' in its deep waters. It is deeper than the North Sea and is very long and very, very narrow and has never been known to freeze

Sightings of the monster, affectionately known as 'Nessie' are legion. The first recorded account is of an eyeball to eyeball confrontation with the Irish saint, St. Columba in the 6th century. St. Columba, so the story goes, ordered one of his monks to swim across the loch and fetch a boat., Halfway across the monster appeared and rushed at the swimmer, roaring in a most frightening way! Columba cried out at the monster," Go no further, nor touch the man! Go back! ". The monster it is said, fled! Since then, Nessie has been seen many times but has never harmed anyone. Sightings have been sporadic over the centuries, but in the 20th century Nessie has been more active, which has had a profound affect on local business!

1933 was the year when the first photograph was taken of the monster, or what could be the monster. It showed something with a long neck arched over a thick body. This photograph, taken by a London surgeon caused a sensation when first published in the Daily Mail.

In 1951, Lachlan Stuart, a forestry worker who lived beside the loch, also managed to photograph the monster, if that is indeed what it was. He saw three humps in the water appear in line and ran back to his house to get his camera. After taking one photograph his camera shutter jammed, but his photograph got wide publicity as further proof of the existence of Nessie.

Interest in Nessie became intense and over the years several scientific investigations have taken place. In 1961 the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau was formed and even two submarines were brought into the search with sonar experts on board! When the submarine Pisces was diving off Castle Urquhart, where the water is at its deepest, a vast underwater cavern was found. Was this Nessie's home?

The circus owner Bertram Mills offered a £20,000 reward to anyone who could capture the monster for his circus, but so far no one has claimed the reward.

In 1975 four firemen from Hemel Hempstead decided that the monster must be a male, as all monsters usually are, so they built a 309 foot long papier-mâché 'lady monster' to attract 'Mr. Nessie'. It had false eyelashes, full make-up and gave out a pre-recorded mating call. Unfortunately the mating call turned out to be that of a male walrus, so not unsurprisingly it didn't tempt Nessie! It didn't help either when the lady monster got damaged when being put into the water. Her 'behind' was flattened by the jetty when a sudden wind blew her sideways. The attempt was abandoned.

The Loch Ness monster is not unique it seems - reports of similar creatures have come from other lochs in the West Highlands. Nessie provides us with an enduring mystery and in the 21st century where there is an explanation for everything, it is pleasing to think that there are still mysteries like the Loch Ness Monster. Long may he, or she, continue to live in the loch, popping up every now and then to startle and amaze us all!