page_title: Clan Forbes
section_title: Castles
hierarchical_section_title: Clan Forbes / Castles
caption_attribution_description: Corgarff Castle taken from the Lecht Road
context_page_description: Clan Forbes is a Highland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
context_section_description: Castles that have been owned by the Clan Forbes have included amongst many others:
  Castlehill at Druminnor, one and a half miles north-east of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, was the site of the first stronghold on the lands, which the Forbeses held from 1271 to 1440. They then moved to Druminnor Castle.
  Druminnor Castle, one mile south-east of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, consists of a keep and tower that has been much altered and was first built by the Forbeses in the fifteenth century. It was modified in the sixteenth century when it was made into an L-plan and there have also been later alterations. The Forbeses feuded with the Leslies, Setons, and the powerful Clan Gordon; twenty Gordons were killed at a banquet held at Druminnor Castle in 1571. In 1770 Druminnor Castle was sold, and the Forbes family moved to Castle Forbes.
  Castle Forbes, a few miles northeast of Alford, Aberdeenshire, was once a tower house, but was replaced with a large castellated mansion of 1815.
  Craigievar Castle, four and a half miles southwest of Alford, Aberdeenshire, was built by the Forbeses. It is an L-plan tower house of seven storeys. The castle was actually started by the Mortimer family but they ran out of money and it was completed by the Forbeses. The castle was taken over by the National Trust for Scotland in 1963 and is now open to the public.
  Tolquhon Castle, four miles east of Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire, is a ruinous keep and courtyard castle. The original castle was built by the Prestons of Craigmillar, but it passed by marriage to the Forbeses in 1420, and they completed the castle. Sir Alexander Forbes, sixth laird of the castle, was killed at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547. The present castle was built by William Forbes, the seventh laird. The tenth Forbes laird of Tolquhon saved Charles II of England's life at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. In 1716 the Forbeses sold the castle to the Farquhars to help cover their losses in the Darien scheme, but the eleventh Forbes laird had to be forcibly removed from the castle by a detachment of soldiers in 1718.
  Corgarff Castle is in a remote spot ten miles northwest of Ballater, Aberdeenshire, and is a tall tower house. It is four storeys high and dates from the sixteenth century. It is the site of one of the most infamous events of the bitter feud between the Clan Forbes and Clan Gordon: a force under Adam Gordon of Auchindoun ravaged through the Forbeses' lands and besieged the castle, which was held by twenty-six women, children, and servants, the men being away. Margaret Campbell, wife of Forbes of Towie, refused to surrender the castle. Gordon of Auchindoun lost patience when she shot one of his men in the knee; Gordon then torched the building, killing everyone inside.
  Culloden House at Culloden, Highland near Inverness mostly dates from the eighteenth century, but stands on the site of a strong tower house which was formerly held by the Mackintoshes and Edmonstones, but was sold to the Forbeses in 1626. It was the seat of Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden, who supported the British-Hanoverian Government during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and was present at the Battle of Culloden. He later protested against the cruel and dishonorable treatment of Jacobite prisoners after the battle, when many wounded Jacobites were brought to Culloden House and were shot or had their heads crushed with musket butts.
caption: Corgarff Castle
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