The castle was probably built by the
Campbells in the last decades of the fourteenth century, at a point of time when the family was dominant in the area. It was used as a hunting lodge by
James IV.
Mary, Queen of Scots visited in 1563, staying at the castle on 20 and 21 June. During
Argyll's Rising in 1685, when
Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, attempted to overthrow King
James VII, captain Thomas Hamilton of
HMS Kingfisher reported that the castle had been burnt and walls reduced sufficiently to make it useless to the Campbell forces. Legend has it that the ship bombarded the castle, badly damaging the keep, which lost its roof. The castle was intermittently occupied until it was sold to the
Murrays, the
Earls of Dunmore. The keep was a ruin for many years but is now in private ownership and undergoing restoration. == Gallery ==