A Tale of Two Castles

Shetland has two castles both of which date back to the time when the Isles were ruled by Earls. Even though both castles are in ruins, there’s enough left of each one to make them fun to explore.

I’ve been to them both several times now and each time I go back I feel surprised by how much of them there is left once you get inside. With both castles, but especially Scalloway Castle, I always get the feeling that they’re bigger on the inside. Now where have I heard that before?

Here’s a bit of history. I promise you won’t be confused. (But if you’re really not a history lover just skip the orange bits.)

In 1533 King James V had a son with his  mistress Euphemia Elphinstone (what a fabulous name!). They called him Robert Stewart. In 1542 he had a daughter with his wife. They called her Mary Stewart. Six days later the King died and Mary, as his only legitimate child, succeeded to the throne despite being less than a week old.

When Robert Stewart got older he was given land in Shetland and Orkney. This wasn’t enough for him and he seized more land and misused taxes. Of course this led to lots of complaints. In a way that doesn’t seem that different in politics today, despite the complaints he was made Earl of Orkney and Lord of Shetland. Eventually the local lairds (landowners) managed to get his Earldom revoked.

In the meantime Robert had got himself a son and so had his half-sister Mary. Robert’s son was called Patrick and Mary’s son was called James. Patrick didn’t get on with his dad but did get on with his Auntie Mary (who was now Mary, Queen of Scots) and cousin James (who was to become both King James VI of Scotland and King James I of England) and so was given his deposed dad’s titles.

As well as his Auntie Mary, Patrick also had an uncle called Laurence Bruce. Laurence was a half-brother of his dad though not related to King James. To recap, Robert and Mary shared a dad (James V) and Robert and Laurence shared a mum (Euphemia). Laurence was appointed sheriff and chamberlein of Shetland in 1573. He also abused his position and only lasted four years before he was sent back to Scotland with the 16th century equivalent of an ASBO banning him from ever stepping foot in Shetland or Orkney again.

Yeah, right. Twenty years later he was back. And not quietly. In 1598 he returned and got himself a castle built on Unst, the most northerly isle in Shetland. Meanwhile Patrick was on a bit of a land grab which didn’t go down well with his Uncle Laurence and they were at loggerheads.

Patrick decided he needed a castle of his own and got one built in Scalloway on the Shetland Mainland. To get one up on Laurence he also decided to get a palace built in Kirkwall in Orkney. He didn’t actually need either as he mostly lived in the palace in Birsay in Orkney and usually had a representative looking after his affairs in Shetland.

Patrick’s castle in Scalloway was built using unpaid labour. He basically commandeered the local lairds’ tenants and didn’t even offer food or drink in return. You can imagine how well that went down. He also claimed all the driftwood that was washed ashore for use in his building project. In a place with very few trees, driftwood was the main source of wood and so denying people access to it was grossly unfair. There were lots of rumours and complaints about the evil Patrick and it was said that he was using blood, eggs and human hair to build his castle. This was probably true as these ingredients were often used in building in those days.

Finally, in 1609, the lairds had really had enough of Patrick. At last their complaints were heard and he was taken to Edinburgh Castle where he was imprisoned. He was executed in 1615, though not because of his behaviour with the castle building, but for treason. He had been encouraging his son Robert (not to be confused with his dad, Robert) to take over Orkney.

With the demise of Patrick things changed in the Isles. Shetland and Orkney had originally belonged to Norway and had been given to Scotland as part of a dowry. Though they were now Scottish they had still been ruled using the old Norse legal system. With the Scotland Act these ‘foreign laws’ were abolished and the legal system was brought into line with the Scottish system. This was not necessarily a good thing as the Norse laws had been more precise and less susceptible to interpretation.

Okay, so I lied about it not being confusing. Even though I’ve read lots about this, I’m not convinced I properly understand it all myself. If anyone would like to correct me on anything then please feel free to drop me a comment below.

The castles didn’t last long after this. Muness Castle in Unst (Laurence’s castle) burnt down in 1627. Scalloway Castle (Patrick’s castle) fared little better. It was used to house troops in 1653 and by the early 1700s was said to be in poor repair.

Muness Castle

Muness Castle is found by following the road round from Uyeasound. If you want to walk it’s a couple of miles from Uyeasound, but quite a pleasant walk on a nice day and you do pass an interesting 3m tall standing stone along the way.

At the entrance to the castle you can find a box with torches (that’s flashlights to my American readers), but they’re often not that good so you’re better to bring your own or use the light on your phone.

Uyeasound (the body of water by the castle, not the village with the same name), was once an anchorage for ships trading between Shetland and Leith in Scotland. There would also have been ships and trade from Bremen in Germany and it’s thought that most of the castle’s furniture would have come from there.

Sketches on the information boards inside the castle give an artist’s impression of how it’s thought the castle would have looked in its heyday. The walls in the smaller rooms would have been panelled, in larger rooms colourful tapestries would have been hung on the walls. The ceilings would have been painted. The furniture would have been top quality and there would have been plenty of fine silverware displayed.

It was first and foremost a castle though, and so had plenty of gunholes and turrets and a couple of towers. From the towers the gunners would have been able to see anyone coming no matter which direction they were coming from.

You can explore the castle on several levels, up and down different staircases. Other staircases are closed off as they’re too dilapidated to use today.

Parts of the castle are completely dark – some of the corridors and small ground floor rooms for example – and this is where you’ll need your torch. On the upper levels you won’t have a problem with the light because of the missing roof.

If you look at the walls around you, you will be able to see the remains of fireplaces and the lines of holes in the walls where the joists for the upper floors and ceiling would once have been.

You can easily spend half an hour exploring this castle and more if you read all the information. There’re a couple of parking spaces in the nearby layby and it’s not too far to walk to a very nice beach.

Scalloway Castle

A word of warning here. If you are planning to drive to Scalloway to visit the castle and you’re coming on the road from Lerwick, you need to have your wits about you (and very quick reactions). You arrive on the hill above Scalloway a lot sooner than you might expect. As you drive up the hill and reach the top the road bends to the right at a complete 90° angle. At the same time the view opens up and you get your first view of Scalloway and its castle.

The view is stunning and absolutely breath-taking (the photo above really doesn’t do it justice). To go back to what I said about needing your wits about you – these really could be your last breaths as the view takes you by surprise and puts you in danger of sailing straight ahead right over the cliff edge. Even though I’m expecting it, the first time I see it on each visit my reaction goes something like this:

Wowwww (complete astonishment, head moves forward, eyes widen)

 Eegghhh (complete panic, head goes back, hands grip steering wheel, body tenses)

 AAARRGHHHH (I didn’t know my van could fly!)

Actually I’ve never got to the AAARRGHHHH bit because I’ve always pulled my steering wheel round to the right with about half a second to spare. But do take care.

Scalloway Castle seems taller and more tower-like than Muness Castle, though it’s thought the same master builder, Andrew Crawford, was responsible for both.

The castle originally had four stories. Like Muness, its outer walls still stand but its roof is long gone. Some of the ornamental stonework is missing as it was taken to be used in other buildings during the 18th century. Excavations have revealed that there would have been additional outbuildings to the north of the tower, but these can’t be seen today.

To get into this castle you need to collect a key from the Scalloway Museum which is next to the castle and well worth a look.

Before you go in look out for the inscription over the door. It’s impossible to read today, but according to an 18th century record it says, “Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney and Shetland. James V King of Scots. That house whose foundation is on a rock shall stand but if on sand shall fall…”

The castle is L-shaped with a main rectangular shaped tower and a smaller square wing. The ground floor housed the kitchens and stores as well as a well.

As Scalloway was the original capital of Shetland, this castle was used as the thing (Norse word for parliament) during Earl Patrick’s time. Court sessions were also held here and there was a room in which prisoners were kept whilst awaiting their trial.

Even though Patrick had lots of inherited debts he had very extravagant tastes and this castle would have looked pretty fancy back in the day.

The walls would have been covered in tapestries and the huge fireplaces would have cast a flickering glow as well as providing light. The windows were partially glazed, but glass was expensive even for an Earl with extravagant tastes so the lower parts of the windows would have been covered with wooden shutters instead of glass. Obviously this blocked the light.

The fireplaces burned through so much peat that the local tenants were required to provide peat as part of their rent. Rent was also collected in the form of a low-grade butter used for lubrication, fish oil which was mostly used for lighting and wadmel which is a rough form of cloth. These items were also collected for taxes which were meant to be passed on to the Crown. The goods, once collected, were sold to the German merchants who would visit Shetland each year.

The main staircase leads up to what was the great hall. Small spiral staircases in opposite corners led up to the Earl’s private quarters. On the top floor were rooms for guests each of which had its own fireplace and latrine.

Both castles are really worth a visit and it’s nice to see them both so you can compare. They are both free to enter as well. Muness Castle can be visited at anytime, but because you need the key for Scalloway Castle you can only get in when the museum is open (though you can wander round the outside at any time).

So what do you think about this tale of two castles and the tales of the Earls? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 

Like this? Read these next:

Cute Houses of Scalloway
Lerwick vs Kirkwall
Shopping and Eating in Lerwick

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