Dear Thelma I am new to the group and one of the first messages I read was yours about Red Castle. My mother was a Mackenzie (of the Portmore and Flowerdale branch) and she used to stay at Red Castle in the mid 1930s with her Aunt Susan and her uncle Colin Mackenzie. My impression was that the castle belonged (or was maybe rented for the shooting season - a common practice now and then) to Aunt Susan who was a Mackinnon from Skye. She was the widow of the Duke of Somerset. Her sister Victoria was married to my mother's uncle Colin Mackenzie. I have photos of the castle which are marked "Redcastle [one word] Ross-Shire" and on the other side "Urquart, Dingwall". These come up very well on a xerox machine and I would be happy to send anyone a copy if they are interested. I never came upon any reference to this castle until I found an excellent travel book on Scotland (which I highly recommend as it is full of very readable history). On a page about Beauly Firth the following was written: "...the ruined castle (private} behind a wall at the western end of the firth is Redcastle originally built by William the Lion in 1178. The original castle, Edradour, is claimed to be the oldest inhabited house in Scotland and passed through several hands before it was annexed by the Crown after the fall from power of the notorious Douglas family. The Mackenzies held it for 200 years from 1570. According to stories, they resorted to sorcery and human sacrifices in an attempt to save the land from a cattle plague. This illicit activity backfired, and the family was henceforth under a curse." Another mysterious fact: my mother told me about staying in a castle in Scotland that was haunted. She said she heard tramping feet at about 5 in the morning and was told that they were from monks in a chapel that had been there. I don't know if this was Red Castle or not. One of my mother's Mackenzie ancestors is described as being provost of Dingwall and Her grandfather, who was a banker in Inverness, was described as being commissioner for Red Castle and Flowerburn estates. If anybody knows anything about a burial ground at Dingwall or what a provost was, or anything else that might be connected to all this I would be interested in hearing about it. Thank you. Gail Lynch (GailmLynch@aol.com)