Caisteal Uisdein (Hugh's Castle)
TROTTERNISH, PORTREE AND THE BRAES
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1. Take the minor road signed for Cuidrach from the A87(T) Portree - Uig road. It is possible to park one car near the end of the road but there is easier parking in the little quarry on the right hand side of the road about a kilometre down, where there is plenty of room. Continue down the road, passing a crag on the right which was the site of an Iron Age fort, Dun Borve. A beautiful little bay and house come into view; turn left onto a track with a green footpath sign (signed South Cuidrach)
2. The track leads to another even more beautifully situated old crofthouse. Where the track goes right into the garden of the house, keep straight on - there is a waymarker post embossed with a celtic symbol. After a short distance straight ahead, bear right (white arrow painted on rock) to cross a boggy hollow, drawing near to the fence and crossing it at a stile where there is another celtic-symbol marked post.
3. The route now follows a faint path atop what was an old built track. It continues straight ahead, passing another Celtic waymarker, before contouring the hillside, crossing a stile at another marker post. Continue contouring the hillside just above a fence and drystone wall. Eventually the path reaches the fence at a stile (no marker here) - cross the stile and head straight across the improved field ahead towards the square keep seen a couple of hundred metres along the coast.
4. The castle is reached past an old cast iron bath-tub which serves as a water trough. It is in a beautiful situation, perched on a low cliff above Loch Snizort with great views across to the Waternish peninsula, and, on a clear day, the Isle of Harris. The entrance to the castle was via a ladder to the first floor, so there is today only a single window at ground floor level. The castle dates from the seventeenth century, the remaining walls standing up to twenty feet high. It was built by Hugh MacDonald, a rival to the chief of that clan, his uncle Donald Gorm, who lived at Duntulm castle further north. Hugh hatched a plot to kill his uncle at Caisteal Uisdean, but mixed up the letter inviting Donald with another to his hired assassin. Warned of the plot, Donald imprisoned Hugh in Duntulm Castle's dungeon, feeding him only salt beef through the hole in the roof, and giving him no water. It must have been a horrible death.
5. It is possible to continue a short distance along the coast but the return is by the same route.
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