Tag: Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan Castle is set to star in a new movie by Oscar winner

Posted on by Dave

Eilean donan castle pictures , edc17680
Eilean Donan Castle is set to take a starring role in a new movie by Oscar winning set designer Roger Christian .

In 1980 he produced a film Black Angel which told the tale of a knight who rescues a princess while returning home from the Crusades, and was made entirely in Scotland, at locations such as Eilean Donan Castle, Bernera Barracks at Glenelg, Loch Eck in Argyll.

It was shown in 1980 in cinemas in Europe and Australia as part of screenings of The Empire Strikes Back – and became a cult classic.

Now he is going to return to the Highlands to turn Black Angel into a full length film.

He said: “I have to film in Scotland, and in late September and early October as I did the first time.

“The quality of the natural light at that time of year in Scotland is like nothing else in the world.

“It allowed us to shoot scenes that would have required CGI, technology that was not available to us at that time.”

Christian was involved in the original Star Wars movie as well as  Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, as well as Alien.

The original Black Angel was found last year and made available online, ending fears that the film had been lost forever.

Visit Scotland has produced a map of film locations in Scotland .

A number of major film releases in recent years have featured well known locations in Scotland including

the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which appears in the Harry Potter movies, Glencoe, which featured in Skyfall, Braveheart and The 39 Steps, and Eilean Donan Castle, seen in Highlander and Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.

Stephen Spielberg’s latest smash hit  of the BFG was filmed in Skye, the Western Isles and Orkney.

Eilean Donan Castle posters

Eilean Donan Castle poster

Eilean Donan Castle poster , Giant A3 size , 16.5 by 11.7 inches , just £5.95 including free UK delivery .
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Eilean Donan Castle

Posted on by Dave
Eilean Donan Castle is the jewel in the crown of Scottish castles with its fairytale setting and a long and colourful history stretching back many centuries .
Eilean donan castle poster
Eilean Donan Castle poster , Giant A3 size , 16 by 11 inches , just £3.95 including free UK delivery .
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This image is also available in a larger size as a poster to US and UK customers on RedbubblePictures of the castle have been published in hundreds of calendars , books and websites. Castle pictures.com has ńow published its own castle poster. The Scottish castles collection features pictures of Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland by photographer David Rankin.Our original image of Eilean Donan Castle is now available as a poster .

Eilean Donan Castle means Island of Donan (a religious figure from the 12th century). Eilean Donan was Clan MacKenzie’s most important stronghold from the 13th Century until it was destroyed in 1719. Robert the Bruce was given refuge in Eilean Donan Castle by John MacKenzie, Second of Kintail when he was being hunted by the English at the beginning of the fourteenth century.

Eilean Donan Castle HDR Christmas print

Above the entrance to the castle there is a Gaelic inscription which translates as: As long as there is a MacRae inside, there will never be a Fraser outside. Inside the courtyard is the famous Murchison Stone with an inscription about John Murchison of Auchtertyre who was killed in the Battle of Sherrifmuir in 1715. In the upper floor inside the castle there are six bedrooms named Loch Alsh,Loch Long, Eilean Donan, Ballimore, Loch Duich and Conchra. There is also a panel with the names of the constables ( guardians ) of the castle carved on it.

Eilean Donan Castle was originally built in 1220 and owned by the MacKenzies of Kintail. The MacRae Clan who settled in the area came from the Beauly Firth where they had protected the Clan Fraser.They acted as bodyguards to the MacKenzie chiefs. Although there was a number of disputes, the MacKenzies held Eilean Donan right up until until the 16th century. The MacRaes first became Constables of the Castle in 1511 with a lot of control over the surrounding area. A feud between the MacKenzies and the McLeods of Dunvegan, over the disputed claims of Donald Gorm MacDonald to the title of Lord of the Isles, came to a head when he attacked the Castle with 50 galleys. He was shot and killed by Duncan MacRae with a single arrow. The Castle was garrisoned by Government troops but later retaken by the Jacobites before the Battle of Sheriffmuir.

In 1719 it was held by Spanish Jacobites. Three English frigates sailed into Loch Duich and bombarded the castle with cannon fire until it was in ruins. The castle them lay in ruins for nearly 200 years. In 1911 John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the castle and start work to restore the castle over a period of twenty years at a total cost of a quarter of a million pounds. Local materials were used wherever possible.

More recently the castle featured in the film Highlander and a James Bond movie.

Eilean Donan Castle is on an island in the middle of 3 lochs – Loch Alsh, Loch Long and Loch Duich – and surrounded by the mountains of the Highlands. If you climb the hill overlooking the castle you can see the Isle of Skye. The castle is next to the village of Dornie and about 10 miles from the Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to the Isle of Skye to the North. The castle is on the west coast of Scotland, about 90 miles north of Glencoe and about 180 miles from Edinburgh. You can take the train from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and take a taxi to the castle. There is a bus route from Glasgow past the castle once a day. There are many bus tours from Edinburgh to the castle.

Due to a change in Scots law it is now possible to get married in a Scottish castle. Wedding receptions can be held inside the castle . The castle is open most of the year and it is run by the Conchra Charitable Trust.

Eilean Donan Castle poster , Giant A3 size , 16 by 11 inches , just £3.95 including free UK delivery .

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Eilean Donan Castle gifts are  available in a variety of sizes as a poster, postcard, ornament and tie to US and UK customers on Redbubble

 

Eilean Donan Castle tours

Posted on by David Rankin
Eilean Donan Castle is the jewel in the crown of Scottish castles with its fairytale setting and a long and colourful history stretching back many centuries .
Eilean donan castle poster
Eilean Donan Castle poster , Giant A3 size , 16 by 11 inches , just £3.95 including free UK delivery .
[rps-paypal]

This image is also available in a larger size as a poster to US and UK customers on RedbubblePictures of the castle have been published in hundreds of calendars , books and websites. Castle pictures.com has ńow published its own castle poster. The Scottish castles collection features pictures of Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland by photographer David Rankin.Our original image of Eilean Donan Castle is now available as a poster .

Eilean Donan Castle means Island of Donan (a religious figure from the 12th century). Eilean Donan was Clan MacKenzie’s most important stronghold from the 13th Century until it was destroyed in 1719. Robert the Bruce was given refuge in Eilean Donan Castle by John MacKenzie, Second of Kintail when he was being hunted by the English at the beginning of the fourteenth century.

Eilean Donan Castle HDR Christmas print

Above the entrance to the castle there is a Gaelic inscription which translates as: As long as there is a MacRae inside, there will never be a Fraser outside. Inside the courtyard is the famous Murchison Stone with an inscription about John Murchison of Auchtertyre who was killed in the Battle of Sherrifmuir in 1715. In the upper floor inside the castle there are six bedrooms named Loch Alsh,Loch Long, Eilean Donan, Ballimore, Loch Duich and Conchra. There is also a panel with the names of the constables ( guardians ) of the castle carved on it.

Eilean Donan Castle was originally built in 1220 and owned by the MacKenzies of Kintail. The MacRae Clan who settled in the area came from the Beauly Firth where they had protected the Clan Fraser.They acted as bodyguards to the MacKenzie chiefs. Although there was a number of disputes, the MacKenzies held Eilean Donan right up until until the 16th century. The MacRaes first became Constables of the Castle in 1511 with a lot of control over the surrounding area. A feud between the MacKenzies and the McLeods of Dunvegan, over the disputed claims of Donald Gorm MacDonald to the title of Lord of the Isles, came to a head when he attacked the Castle with 50 galleys. He was shot and killed by Duncan MacRae with a single arrow. The Castle was garrisoned by Government troops but later retaken by the Jacobites before the Battle of Sheriffmuir.

In 1719 it was held by Spanish Jacobites. Three English frigates sailed into Loch Duich and bombarded the castle with cannon fire until it was in ruins. The castle them lay in ruins for nearly 200 years. In 1911 John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the castle and start work to restore the castle over a period of twenty years at a total cost of a quarter of a million pounds. Local materials were used wherever possible.

More recently the castle featured in the film Highlander and a James Bond movie.

Eilean Donan Castle is on an island in the middle of 3 lochs – Loch Alsh, Loch Long and Loch Duich – and surrounded by the mountains of the Highlands. If you climb the hill overlooking the castle you can see the Isle of Skye. The castle is next to the village of Dornie and about 10 miles from the Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to the Isle of Skye to the North. The castle is on the west coast of Scotland, about 90 miles north of Glencoe and about 180 miles from Edinburgh. You can take the train from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and take a taxi to the castle. There is a bus route from Glasgow past the castle once a day. There are many bus tours from Edinburgh to the castle.

Due to a change in Scots law it is now possible to get married in a Scottish castle. Wedding receptions can be held inside the castle . The castle is open most of the year and it is run by the Conchra Charitable Trust.

Eilean Donan Castle poster , Giant A3 size , 16 by 11 inches , just £3.95 including free UK delivery .

[rps-paypal]

Eilean Donan Castle gifts are  available in a variety of sizes as a poster, postcard, ornament and tie to US and UK customers on Redbubble

Scotland tours from Edinburgh

 

New Eilean Donan Castle picture

Posted on by Dave

This is a new HDR picture of Eilean Donan Castle which I took last year . The castle is illuminated at night and I liked the reflections in the water . This picture is available as a print and mobile wallpaper . The castle recently took part in conservation group WWF’s Earth Hour.
Owners of buildings and individuals across the world were asked to turn out lights for 60 minutes from 2030 GMT on 28 March.
The Forth Rail Bridge and Edinburgh Castle are also part of the switch off.

Videos of Scotland – Castle videos

Posted on by Dave

I have been shooting videos for the last 3 years and HD videos of Scotland for the last year and I have now started to add it them to the website . This will be an ongoing process which will continue throughout this year . I have videos of Edinburgh Castle and Eilean Donan Castle which are available as downloads to mobile phones  . The project as a whole is titled ” Videos of Scotland” and will also be for sale on CD .

Two hundred year old graffiti in Edinburgh Castle’s prison vaults is one of the inspirations behind the development of a major  exhibition within the castle .The exhibition explores the castle’s connections with the American War of Independence as well as 18th century European conflicts including the French Revolution, through the stories of the men who found themselves gaoled at Edinburgh Castle.The prison vaults lie beneath the Queen Anne building in the castle’s Crown Square. The exhibition is one part of a £3.5 million construction project within the Queen Anne building to provide a permanent all-weather education centre; function and exhibition space and additional café space.

“Edinburgh Castle is Scotland’s most popular visitor attraction,” Dr Murray said. “More than 1 million visitors are drawn each year by its spectacular location and history. They can see the Crown Jewels, the One O’Clock Gun and the Stone of Destiny as well as the Great Hall, St Margaret’s Chapel, and Mons Meg. “This new exhibition will explore more of the castle’s complex story, with links to Scots-born John Paul Jones – renowned in America as founder of the US Navy  and in Britain for capturing one of the Royal Navy’s warships – and the turbulence of revolutionary Europe at the end of the 1700s.”Edinburgh Castle is a world-class attraction and today’s well-traveled tourists have high expectations.”The vaults at Edinburgh Castle were constructed around 1500 and later used as soldiers’ barrack-rooms and a bakehouse. However they were used for many years as prisons of war from the 1750s into the early 1800s. Graffiti carved into prison doors reveal the names and sentiments of many of the men there, and some of them etched crude drawings of their vessels. One drawing shows a gallows and noose, with the inscription Lord Nord (North) – the British Prime Minister at the time of the American War of Independence. Another shows a ship flying what appears to be the stars and stripes: one of the earliest known depictions of the American flag.
The Castle is at the top of the Royal Mile . If you walk down the Royal Mile you can see a large number of gift shops , pubs and restaurants . At the foot of the Royal Mile is the new Scottish Parliament building and the Palace of Holyroodhouse , the official residence of the Queen in Scotland.

videos of Edinburgh Castle and Eilean Donan Castle