The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Scottish Panoramas
SITTING proud and isolated on one of several islets off Loch Linnhe, 25 miles from Oban, Castle Stalker is one of Scotland’s most picturesque, history-drenched and (some would say) cursed fortifications. It’s also one of very few which has seen ownership change as a result of a drunken bet: that happened in 1620, when Duncan Stewart lost the castle to the Campbells of Airds. A rowing boat seems to have been involved, but beyond that details are scant.
The earliest building is thought to have been established by the MacDougalls around 1320. The castle in its current form was built in the mid-15th century by the Stewarts, who by then had assumed the Lordship of Lorn. In the churchyard at nearby Portnacroish you can see a memorial stone marking the site of the Battle of Stalc in 1468, when a combined force of Stewarts and MacLarens took on the MacDougalls. It was during the battle that Dugald Stewart, First Chief of Appin, killed Alan MacCoul, who had murdered Dugald’s own father Sir John Stewart five years earlier.
Dugald Stewart was later killed raiding MacDonald of Keppoch. His son, Duncan, was murdered by the MacLeans in 1512, and Sir Alexander Stewart was attacked and killed by a party of Campbells while fishing near Castle Stalker in 1520. Bad luck followed the Stalker Stewarts overseas as well: another Duncan Stewart, was assassinated in
1949 by secessionists in Malaya, where he had just been made Governor of Sarawak. All this has helped give Castle Stalker its reputation as a place of intrigue, mystery and murder.
Under the Campbells the castle remained a Government redoubt in the 1745 uprising but by 1800 they had departed and by 1840 the castle was nearruined. In 1908 it was returned to the Stewarts. The slow process of rebuilding gathered pace from the 1960s onwards and Castle Stalker is now owned by the Allward family.
The sea loch being tidal, the castle is reachable from the shore, though only just. In these abnormal times the castle is closed, so visitors can only stop and stare and maybe snap a picture or two. As anyone will know who has tried, it’s hard to take a bad one of Castle Stalker.
What to watch:
Monty Python And The Holy Grail is the go-to movie. Castle Stalker has a starring role in the final scene as Arthur and his army charge the castle only to be arrested and thrown into a Black Maria.
WHY DO YOU GO THERE?
My wife Anna’s family are from there and it is special to us. I like to practise my Italian and I find it best to do it in Italy.
I’m a huge history buff and you have Etruscan history, the ancient Roman Empire, the start of Christianity and the Renaissance – you can’t move without bumping into something beautiful. The food is incredible. The people are smart.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO?
Usually, we are in Italy every year and in Rome every couple of years. The last time I went was filming my show, Big Weekends with Gregg Wallace, in August 2019.
HOW DID YOU DISCOVER IT?
It was before I met my wife. Because I have a love for history, I wanted to go. I wandered around Rome. I could not stop walking. Yes, it is dirty and noisy in parts but that is how it is supposed to be.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE MEMORY?
Lunches with my wife who speaks great Italian, so we don’t need to go anywhere with an English-translated menu. Big long lunches outside in a courtyard or an alleyway under an umbrella, sitting there with a cheap house wine and simple food.
Romans have a lovely saying: the more you spend, the worse you eat. I also love sitting outside in the Jewish quarter because that is where you find the best food in Rome.
The simplest and most wonderful thing you can do in Rome is to sit in a piazza with a drink and a bowl of nibbles. It doesn’t cost a fortune. It is not the five-star experience. But it is the best experience and it’s what the people of Rome do.
When the people of Rome go out for a walk in the evening, they are not going anywhere. The reason they are walking slowly is they haven’t got a destination in mind. Live like the Romans. Go out, sit down, have a drink and a bowl of nibbles, then watch Rome go by.
WHO DO YOU TAKE?
Anna.
WHAT DO YOU TAKE?
A jar of Colman’s English mustard because, invariably, there is going to be a buffet breakfast with sausages, bread and ham.
WHAT DO YOU LEAVE BEHIND?
My to-do list.
SUM IT UP IN FIVE WORDS.
History. Food. Art. People. Clothes.
WHAT TRAVEL SPOT IS ON YOUR POST-LOCKDOWN WISH LIST?
Top of my wish list are South Africa and Venice. I spent January last year working in South Africa and my wife hasn’t seen it. I’m keen to take her to the winelands and get her on safari. Anna has never been to Venice. It is busy and expensive, but it is so romantic.
Another place I would like to visit is the Kalahari. There are places along the Orange River that are so tranquil.
Big Weekends with Gregg Wallace begins on Channel 5, Friday, 9pm