DIRLOT CASTLE. 



RUINS OF DIRLOT CASTLE. 



On this occasion Dick was forced to return home 

 before he could examine the boulder clay at Dallmore 

 and Cattack. A fortnight later he paid his intended 

 visit. He explored the boulder clay found marine 



beauty. The view near Dirlot is particularly striking. Here the banks 

 on each side are steep, and richly clothed with brushwood. Dirlot 

 Castle is the oldest in the county. It stands in ruins on the summit of 

 a precipitous rock. It is said at one time to have been surrounded by 

 the river, and accessible only by a drawbridge. At the end of the 

 fifteenth century, it was inhabited by a chief of the name of Suther- 

 land ; and local traditions state that it was often the scene of revelry 

 and slaughter. The castle afterwards became the possession of the 

 Mackays. The Gunns and the Mackays were the great clans of the 

 north of Sutherland and south of Caithness, and fought many ferocious 

 battles in the district. The Gunns were of Scandinavian origin. 



