| Rait Castle | |
| Map Type: | Scotland Highland |
| Coordinates: | 57.5494°N -3.8499°W |
| Built: | 13th century |
| Materials: | Granite |
| Ownership: | Earl Cawdor |
Rait Castle is a ruined hall-house castle dating from the thirteenth century, situated just south of Nairn near Inverness, Scotland.[1] It is a scheduled monument.
The remains of the courtyard walls are nine feet high and also contain the remains of the Chapel of St Mary of Rait.[2] The building was a two story building, measuring 20 metres by 10 metres.[3] It had an unvaulted basement and an upper hall.[3] The hall was entered from the outside and was protected by a portcullis and a drawbar.[3] The walls of the castle are nearly 6 feet thick.[4] A tower projects from one corner of the castle and there is a garderobe tower on the west side that projects nearly 13 feet.[4]
The castle was originally a property of the Comyn family, who took the name of de Rait.[5] Sir Alexander Rait killed the third Thane of Cawdor (chief of Clan Calder), and then fled south where he married the heiress of Hallgreen.[1] The castle later passed from the de Raits to the Mackintosh family and then to the Campbell family.[1]
In 1442,[5] when the castle passed to the Mackintoshes from the de Rait family, a feast was held at the castle between the two families which ended in the slaughter of most of the Comyns and de Raits.[6] The laird blamed his daughter, whom he chased around the castle.[6] She climbed out of a window but he chopped off her hands and she fell to her death.[6] The castle is said to be haunted by her ghost,[6] with no hands.[5]
The Duke of Cumberland is said to have stayed at the castle before the Battle of Culloden in 1746,[1] although the last recorded reference to the castle was in 1596.[4]
American singer Bonnie Raitt is a descendant of the Rait clan, and visited Rait Castle in 1990.[7]