Tour Loch Leven

Loch Leven Castle is one of the best and least changed examples of a fourteenth century keep remaining in Scotland. It stands on an island in the loch of the same name, which is under the control of an association of anglers. This association controls all the boats which are allowed to ply upon the loch, and only from their pier in the town of Kinross can the castle be visited. The lake is the home of a peculiar species of trout, of which an average of twenty-five thousand per year are taken by the anglers, who are required to keep an exact record of their baskets. The loch was lowered by drainage works in the beginning of the last century, so that the water, which once lapped the castle walls, has left a considerable space of greensward on all sides at present. The island seems to have been connected in very ancient times with the mainland by a causeway, which has now sunk well under the surface. Still, in very dry seasons, it is possible for a man to wade all the way to the island. The castle consists of a small keep, only about thirty-eight feet by thirty, with walls seven or eight feet thick, and five stories high. This has a vaulted basement below the level of the court, with no access to the floor above save by a hatch. The entrance is two floors above this, leaving the first floor without external communication. The upper floors are gone, and there is no access to the battlements, which have corbelled bartizans at the three external corners. This keep is provided with an extensive courtyard, which has a continuous rampart walk. At the corner opposite the keep is a ruinous round tower, in which Queen Mary was confined. This is of the sixteenth century, as were the other buildings in the courtyard, of which only the foundations now remain.

The earliest castle in the island is said to have been built by Congal, son of Dongart, King of the Picts. The first authentic history of the castle is given in the following quotation: "In the wars which harassed Scotland during the minority of David II, the castle of Lochleven was held in the patriotic interest by Allen de Vipont, against the troops of Edward III, who acted in behalf of Edward Baliol. John de Strivilin blockaded it, and erected a fortress in the churchyard of Kin-ross, which occupies the point of a neighbouring promontory; and, at the lower end of the lake, where the water of Leven issues out of it, it is said that he raised a strong and lofty bulwark, by means of which he hoped to lay the castle under water, and constrain Vipont to surrender. The water continued to rise daily, and the besiegers thought themselves certain of success, when, the English general and most of his troops having left the camp to celebrate the festival of St. Margaret at Dunfermline, the besieged, seizing the favourable opportunity (June 19, 1385), after much labour and perseverance broke through the barrier, when the water rushed out with such impetuosity as to overwhelm the English encamped on that side."