One of Paul McLean's friends has also been working on the castle as an Archaeologist, some of the clans people who came to the 2007 gathering with us also are Buie clan, this page is for them and all Maclaine's. Some helpful links below take you to various websites giving more info on the castle; www.nadair.org.uk www.mull-historical-society.co.uk www.snh.org.uk We would also like to design a Mull historical tour to brochs, castles, stones and monuments. All interested should please contact us as soon as possible.
St. Kilda's Episcopal Church, Loch Buie The church is in the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles and was built by MacLaine of Lochbuie in 1876. Local rumour has it that originally it was to have been consecrated to St. Oran but this was changed to St. Kilda. The origin of St. Kilda is not known for certain, some regard him as a mythical person. The name is only found in the island of St. Kilda and the ancient well in the island, Tobar Childer - Well of Kilda - indicates a Nordic saint, probably a hermit, the spelling of whose name should be St. Kildar. The yellow sandstone Celtic cross built into the south wall of the porch is of great interest. This was unearthed when the foundations of the church were being excavated as there is no history of a chapel or place of burial on the site - this makes it all the more remarkable. The cross is of the simplest and earliest form and may be more than 800 years old. There are various Memorial Tablets in the Church dedicated to members of the MacLaine family and others associated with Lochbuie and the surrounding area. The Crucifix above the Chancel was carved by Joseph Mayer who played the part of Christ many times in the Oberammergau passion play. He died on 1st December 1903.
|
Moy Castle is in urgent need of further stabilisation. The consolidation of the upper levels is only a start and it is essential that the project is extended to include the rest of the building. To do this Moy Castle needs your help - any donation, however large or small will contribute to the preservation of a unique piece of island heritage, the ancestral home of Maclaines all over the world, and an iconic feature of the classic Powell-Pressburger film 'I Know Where I'm Going'. Emergency conservation work is being carried out now as part of a project led by Mull Historical and Archaeological Society in partnership with Jim Corbett (owner of Moy Castle) and the Lochbuie estate, together with skilled conservationists who are working to consolidate the upper levels of the castle. The current phase of the project is being carried out under the auspices of the Nądair Trust (Nature Trust), an Oban based charity who coordinate programmes throughout the Argyll Islands - an area often referred to as 'Scotland's Sea Kingdom'. The total budget for this first phase of work at Moy is approximately £380,000, with major funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland, as well as contributions from Clan Maclaine of Lochbuie, Clan Maclean Heritage Trust, and IKWIG'ers. Further consolidation to the rest of the structure is in urgent need in conjunction with a detailed archaeological record of what is found under years of accumulated soil, fallen stone and vegetation. If you would like any more information please contact:- Info@moycastle.com
The following is edited
from The History of the Clan Maclean and from The
Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments
of Scotland, 1980, Vol. 3, Mull, Tiree, Coll &
Northern Argyll.
Moy Castle stands on a low rock platform at the head
of Loch Buie and was built in the 15th century by
Hector MacLean, brother of Maclean of Duart and the
founder of the re-named MacLaines of Lochbuie who
made it their home. It is a 3 storey tower with a
garret. On the centre of the ground floor there is a
well with a depth of 1 8m. The well is cut into the
solid rock but always has fresh water in it and is
at a level much above the outside ground level.
There is currently no knowledge of the means of
water supply to this well. The castle was captured
from the MacLaines and garrisoned by Campbell
followers but later returned to the MacLaines. It
was abandoned as a residence in 1752 when Lochbuie
House was built. Building materials of the original
castle are schistose slabs quarried from nearby
Laggan, harled stone, and beach boulders, all laid
with lime mortar. Quoins and margins to all openings
are a fine-grained sandstone of greenish hue
quarried at Carsaig on the Ross of Mull. Large
blocks of slate paving for the parapet-walk were
probably quarried from Ballachulish or Easdale. At
the main first floor there is an impressive
barrel-vaulted chamber which probably served as the
main hall in the original arrangement. At the NE end
of the hall there appears to be a raised platform or
dais. The hall is served by two original mural
chambers in the diagonally opposed east and west
corners. There is a garderobe and latrine chute
still visible on the SW wall. Near the angle formed
by the limbs of the chamber is a hatch providing the
only access to a well-constructed pit-prison, 3.3
meters in depth and 1.2 meters square at the base
with tapering side walls and corbelled at the neck.
Spiral stone stairs and a short lintelled passage
lead from the stairs to a long narrow apartment
formed within the thickness of the SE wall, perhaps
intended as a bed chamber, though some historians
claim it was used to hold the dead during funeral
obsequies. The second level rooms are reached
through a fine original doorway with pointed arched
head composed of four voussoirs and the dressed
surround uniformly wrought with a broad chamfer. The
next two stories had floors of wood, though the
walls are 2.2 meters thick. Externally the most
interesting features are the upper works of the
tower where the parapet is embattled with broad
merlons and crenelles of deep and narrow
proportions. Each turret is provided with small
windows and smaller square openings, possibly firing
apertures. A steeply raked loop with double
The stone circle and other related standing stones at Lochbuie are evidence of inhabitation since pre-historic times. This is a small and well preserved stone circle overlooked by spectacular Ben Buie and standing within the grounds of Lochbuie House. The circle was originally nine granite stones, set in a ring about 12 metres in diameter, with the tallest stone being about two metres high. It is mainly composed of granite slabs which have been positioned with their flatter faces towards the inside of the circle. One of the original stones has been removed and replaced in recent times with a low boulder.There are also three single stones set in the field at different distances from the circle. The nearest of these outlying stones is 5m away to the south-east, and is only 1m tall. The second outlier is a spectacular monolith 3m high and set about 40m away to the south-west. Also south-west of the circle, 107m away, is the third outlier, over 2 metres high. The stone is broken at the top and was probably taller when erected. The McFadyens come from the Isle of Mull, one of the islands off the west coast of Scotland called The Inner Hebrides. The McFadyens were a sept - or allied clan - of the Clan Mclaine of Lochbuie "The McFadyens are a very old tribe. They were the first sept to join the Maclaines, although under dubious circumstances. When Hector Mclaine went to claim the lands given to him by the MacDonalds, he found the lands already under the possession of the McFadyens. For mutual protection (from various raiders and neighbouring tribes), the Chief granted him permission to build a fortress at the head of Loch Buie. After the castle was completed, Hector climbed to top and shot an arrow through a bone that the McFadyen Chief was eating on the ground below. Not being foolish, the McFadyen Chief removed himself from the scene. Whether Maclaine was aiming the bone or at McFadyen, and missed, is a matter of speculation. |
Home |
Whisky Tours |
Self Drive |
Golf Tours |
All Tours |
Historic Tours |
Specialist Tours |
FAQs |
Contact
