See Brochel Castle, Isla of Raasay, Scotland

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Brochel Castle, late 15th/early 16th century, occupied until c.1671 Ruin of impregnable stronghold on Raasay's north-eastern shore, an ingenious fusion of natural rock and masonry rising sheer from a stack-like volcanic plug some 15 m high. Built, so the favoured tradition goes, by Raasay's first Macleod chief, Calum (MacGilleChaluim), it provided a strategic base for a dynasty of reiving seadogs to control their mainland possessions and the Inner Sound. Even today, with masonry eroded to precarious stumps, it is easy to see why Brochel has often been depicted as something born of realms fantastical. Though only footings survive of the tallest tower, which rose to corbelled battlements (Daniell's view of 1818 depicts it virtually intact), remnants of three other tower structures on different levels still conjure up a thrilling spectacle.

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