Old Photograph Dunnet Head Lighthouse Scotland

Old photograph of Dunnet Head Lighthouse in Northern Sutherland, Scotland. Dunnet Head Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse that stands on the 300 foot cliff top of Easter Head on Dunnet Head. The lighthouse is 66 feet tall and was built in 1831 by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson.



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Old Photograph Watten Caithness Scotland

Old photograph of Watten, Caithness, Scotland. This small Scottish village is on The Far North railway line but trains stopped calling at the village in 1960.

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Old Photographs Scrabster Scotland

Old photograph of Scrabster, located on Thurso Bay, Caithness, Scotland.

Old photograph of Scrabster Lighthouse, located on Thurso Bay, Caithness, Scotland.


Old photograph of Scrabster, located on Thurso Bay, Caithness, Scotland.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Old Photograph Ackergill Tower Scotland

Old photograph of Ackergill Tower, Caithness, Scotland. Built in the 1400s by Clan Keith, Ackergill Tower is a five storey oblong tower house. The Keith clan, under John Keith, took the lands at Ackergill in 1354, and Ackergill Tower was probably built by his son. This tower has several historically famous things, but one which is often forgotten is the fate of a young woman by the name of Helen Gunn. In her story, the young woman is abducted by John Keith because he wanted her for her amazing beauty. She flung herself, or fell, from the highest tower to escape her abductors advances. Supposedly her ghost is still seen, wearing a long red rustling ball gown and a tall head of black hair. This was in the late 14th or early 15th century and is said to have been the true beginning for all Feuding between the Gunns and Keiths. It led to the Battle of Champions in either 1478 or 1464, a massacre of the Gunns by the Keiths at the chapel of St Tear (Tayre) just east of the village. In 1547, the Sinclairs of Sinclair and Girnigoe Castle attacked and seized the castle. Mary the Regent granted the Sinclairs remission for this, and returned Ackergill Tower to the Keiths, and later installed Lord Oliphant as keeper of Ackergill in 1549. The Sinclairs again captured the castle in 1556, for which they were again granted remission. In 1593, Robert Keith, brother to the William Keith, 6th Earl Marischal, who rightfully owned the tower, seized Ackergill by force, for which he was declared a rebel, and the castle returned to the Earl. In 1598, another Keith, one John Keith of Subster, attacked the tower in the dead of night, taking its occupants by surprise and capturing the place. In 1612, the Sinclairs acquired Ackergill Tower once again, but through legal means, when it was sold to the Earl of Caithness by the Earl Marischal. However, by 1623 it was under assault once more, when it was besieged by Sir Robert Gordon during his feud with George Sinclair, 5th Earl of Caithness, but the Sinclairs surrendered the castle before any assault took place. In 1651, Oliver Cromwell may have used Ackergill Castle to garrison his troops during his siege of the Keith's Dunnottar Castle, as he was hunting for the Honours of Scotland. In 1676, John Campbell, 2nd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland took possession of Ackergill Tower in repayment of debts owed by the Sinclairs.

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Old Photographs Dunbeath Castle Scotland

Old photograph of Dunbeath Castle, Caithness, Scotland. A castle is first recorded on the rocky peninsula at Dunbeath in 1428, when the lands belonged to the Earl of Caithness. The first recorded laird was Alexander Sutherland. It later became the property of the Clan Sinclair through the marriage of the daughter of Alexander Sutherland to William Sinclair (1410–1484), the first Sinclair Earl of Caithness. The Sinclairs replaced the earlier structure with a four-storey tower house in 1620. In March 1650, Dunbeath was attacked by the Royalist forces of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Sir John Sinclair rode to Edinburgh to warn of Montrose's arrival, leaving his wife to defend Dunbeath against Sir John Hurry. She soon surrendered, and a Royalist garrison was installed. Montrose was defeated in April at the Battle of Carbisdale, and the opposition forces, under David Leslie, recaptured the castle. The castle was extensively remodelled in the 17th century by Sir William Sinclair, and again in 1853 and 1881, when David Bryce was the architect. From 1894 to 1945, the castle was owned by Vice-Admiral Sir Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair. In that year, after 325 years of occupation by the Sinclair Family, the castle was sold to Bertram Currie. In 1967 it was sold again to Harry Blythe and Helen (Sinclaire) Blythe. The castle remained in their possession until 1976 when it was sold to Ray Stanton Avery. In 1997 the castle was sold to the current owner, Stuart Wyndham Murray-Threipland. The castle remains a private residence today and is not open to the public.

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Photograph Prince Charles Caithness Scotland

Photograph of The Prince of Wales as he talked to fishermen at the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, Scrabster, Caithness, Scotland. Photographic Print of Prince Charles visits Scotland from Press Association Images.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

Tour Scotland Photographs Grey Cairns of Camster

Tour Scotland photograph of the Grey Cairns of Camster, Caithness, Scotland. Two chambered burial cairns of Neolithic date. One is long, with two chambers and projecting ‘ horns ’ and the other is round, and contains a single chamber.


Photograph of the Grey Cairns of Camster, Caithness, Scotland.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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