Dark Skies Over The Ruins O Keiss Castle, Caithness Scotland, UK, Royalty-Free Stock Photo

Dark Skies over the ruins o KeissCastle, Caithness Scotland, UK, Keiss Castle stands at the northern end of Sinclair Bay overlooking a long beach and was one of three fortifications that controlled this territory the others were Ackergill Castle and Girnigoe Castle. Allegedly built over the site of an earlier fortification, known as Reddar, it was built in the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century by George Sinclair, Fifth Earl of Caithness. The first record of the castle dates from 1623 when George defied King James VI I of England. In response the King dispatched Sir Robert Gordon to raid Caithness and, although the rebellious Earl provisioned his castles for a siege, he withdrew to Orkney. All three castles surrendered without a fight to Sir Robert but were eventually returned to the Earl`s son - George, Lord Berriedale. Little is known about his tenure other than in 1638 when he wrote to his own son, scalding him for his support for the National Covenant. Keiss Castle was a ‘Z’ plan Tower House built in the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century by George, Earl of Caithness but was seized when he defied the King. The structure was ruinous by the eighteenth century and was replaced by a mansion house.