Saccharin – Eilean Donan

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Written by Scott K Marshall

A castle had stood on this spot since the 13th Century destroyed by the Royal Navy in 1719. Following the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1715, the Jacobites, supporters of the exiled James Stuart, the "Old Pretender", sought new support from Spain. An advance party of 300 Spanish soldiers arrived in Loch Duich in April 1719, and occupied Eilean Donan Castle. The expected uprising of Highlanders did not occur, and the main Spanish invasion force never arrived.At the beginning of May, the Royal Navy sent ships to the area. Early in the morning on Sunday 10 May, HMS Worcester, HMS Flamborough, and HMS Enterprise anchored off Eilean Donan and sent a boat ashore under a flag of truce to negotiate. When the Spanish soldiers in the castle fired at the boat, it was recalled and all three ships opened fire on the castle for an hour or more.[35] The next day the bombardment continued while a landing party was prepared. In the evening under the cover of an intense cannonade, the ships' boats went ashore and captured the castle against little resistance. According to Worcester's log, in the castle they found "an Irishman, a captain, a Spanish lieutenant, a serjeant, one Scotch rebel and 39 Spanish soldiers, 343 barrels of powder and 52 barrels of musquet shot."[36] The naval force spent the next two days demolishing the castle, which took 27 barrels of gunpowder.[37] The Spanish prisoners were put on board Flamborough and taken to Edinburgh.[38] The remaining Spanish troops were defeated on 10 June at the Battle of Glen Shiel. (Wikepedia)
A castle had stood on this spot since the 13th Century. Following the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1715, the Jacobites, supporters of the exiled James Stuart, the “Old Pretender”, sought new support from Spain. An advance party of 300 Spanish soldiers arrived in Loch Duich in April 1719, and occupied Eilean Donan Castle. The expected uprising of Highlanders did not occur, and the main Spanish invasion force never arrived.
At the beginning of May, the Royal Navy sent ships to the area. Early in the morning on Sunday 10 May, HMS Worcester, HMS Flamborough, and HMS Enterprise anchored off Eilean Donan and sent a boat ashore under a flag of truce to negotiate. When the Spanish soldiers in the castle fired at the boat, it was recalled and all three ships opened fire on the castle for an hour or more. The next day the bombardment continued while a landing party was prepared. In the evening under the cover of an intense cannonade, the ships’ boats went ashore and captured the castle against little resistance. According to Worcester’s log, in the castle they found “an Irishman, a captain, a Spanish lieutenant, a sergeant one Scotch rebel and 39 Spanish soldiers, 343 barrels of powder and 52 barrels of musquet shot.”[36] The naval force spent the next two days demolishing the castle, which took 27 barrels of gunpowder.[37] The Spanish prisoners were put on board Flamborough and taken to Edinburgh.[38] The remaining Spanish troops were defeated on 10 June at the Battle of Glen Shiel. (Wikipedia) . What you see here is the reconstructed Castle between 1919 & 1932 – It has starred in many movies but it was the film Highlander in 1986 which brought it first to my attention. It is an impressive sight by any standard but is surrounded by development which pretty much limits the images you can get. Still I got to practice my night photography again. Enjoy
The castle was rebuilt in the years between 1919 and 1932 by Lt. Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap.

34 Comments

  2. Great shot Scott. One of my favourite castles of all time – I could actually imagine myself living there….it has a very homely feel.

  6. Hi Scott…..don’t knock the ‘Saccharin’ – Eilean Donan or not it is what sells the pictures time and time again. Could do with a trip to Skye right now, weather could be interesting!

    1. I recall your comments from a previous email regarding sales of these type of shots – I guess I just wanted to highlight how difficult it is to get a shot which hasn’t already been taken of these popular locations.

    1. Thanks Phil, I have had a couple of attempts at twilight/night photography and know now manual is the only way – modern DSLR’s think they need more light than they do

  12. Fantastic image! The lighting is superb. I just got to try my first attempt at night shooting during the workshop. NOT the greatest success, but seeing how it’s done was a good learning experience. 😉

    1. Lots of trial and error 3rd time out now, started off on automatic and reduced the shutter speed until I was happy. Next time I will probably go straight to manual.

      1. I’m about to tackle my very first attempt in my next post. Unlike you, I’m including the good, the bad and the ugly….. 😉 My overriding problem was focusing in the dark.

    1. Thank you – previously I had a mediocre day shot which was published on Our Scotland and Facebook a long while back but pleased to have gotten something with a bit more impact.

    1. It is iconic – for me as much the location and backdrop as the castle itself – although on this occasion I have chosen to concentrate on the castle versus the setting – next time snow covered Cuillins

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