From a Captive King to a Leaping Maiden: A Visit to Huntingtower Castle
- Wee Walking Tours
- Apr 22
- 5 min read
Updated: May 1
This week, our Golden Retriever explorers, Walter and Arthur, bring you to Perthshire for a visit to Huntingtower Castle. Before we tour the Castle, let’s cover some historical highlights to provide a bit more context.
Historical Context
Huntingtower Castle was once known as the Place of Ruthven as it was named after the Ruthven family. We previously mentioned this family in our Dirleton Castle post (Dirleton had come into the Ruthven’s possession when William married Janet Haliburton who was the heiress to that castle). The Ruthven family were originally from East Lothian but settled in Perthshire in the 1100s.
By the 1500s, the Place of Ruthven had two tower houses next to each other just 3 metres apart. As is the case with so many castles around Scotland, Huntingtower can lay claim to the fact that Mary Queen of Scots once stayed here. Patrick, 3rd Lord Ruthven, was friends with Mary’s second husband, Lord Darnley, and he entertained the couple during their honeymoon in September 1565. However, it is said that Mary didn’t really like Patrick. Her doubts about him would later be justified when he was involved with the murder of her personal secretary, David Rizzio (you can read more about that tragic event in our Palace of Holyroodhouse article).
Perhaps one of the most fascinating stories at Huntingtower Castle relates to Mary Queen of Scots’ son, King James VI. When James was just 16 years old, he was invited by William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, to visit the castle. However, unbeknownst to James, William, a militant Protestant, had conspired to hold him against his will. William and his co-conspirators were trying to separate James from his Catholic advisors. More specifically from, Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox.
James was in love with Lennox and the Presbyterian nobles in Scotland were afraid of Lennox's Catholic influence. To show his loyalty to James, Lennox publicly converted to Protestantism, but the Scottish Protestant nobles were suspicious about the conversion and didn’t believe it was real. They were worried that somehow Lennox and others would influence James to bring his mother, Mary, back to the throne along with Catholicism.
In what is now known as the ‘Ruthven Raid’, the plotters engineered a coup d'état. There have been books written about this, but to keep within the scope of this article, I’ll just say that there was a lot going on behind the scenes while James was being held. This included not only Ruthven (the Earl of Gowrie) and the other Scottish Protestant nobles playing a role, but also Elizabeth I of England who sent money to try to help the Earl of Gowrie.
Gowrie held James VI at the castle for 10 months until he was finally able to escape. The coup failed, but the damage had been done. Lennox had been forced to flee to Dumbarton Castle and Gowrie ensured that he was eventually exiled to France never to return. In an interesting turn of events, James initially pardoned William Ruthven. However, William kept plotting, and James eventually had him arrested. He was tried, found guilty, and beheaded.
The Ruthven’s fell completely out of favour with King James VI when he encountered the family in another strange occurrence in 1600 in what became known as the ‘Gowrie Conspiracy’. According to the King’s official account, he went to visit John Ruthven, the 3rd Earl of Gowrie, at his townhouse in Perth. However, he was confronted by an assassin, and in James’ struggle to get away, John and his brother were stabbed and killed. Now, it isn’t known whether this was truly a Ruthven plotting against the King again or James’ way of getting revenge on the family who had tried to take him out of power all those years ago. Personally, I suspect it was the latter. Especially considering what happened next.
The dead bodies of Gowrie and his brother were brought to Edinburgh where they were tried and found guilty of high treason. Their bodies were then hanged, drawn, and quartered. Parliament abolished the name of ‘Ruthven’ and confiscated all the family’s land. This act of Parliament also decreed that the castle was to be renamed ‘Huntingtower’.
Needless to say, I don’t think James ever forgave the Ruthven family for their involvement with the coup and getting rid of what many believe to be the love of his life, the Duke of Lennox.
Huntingtower eventually came in the possession of the Murray family who had been the keepers of the Castle for decades.
Now that we’ve covered some of the history, let’s head into the Castle for a wee tour.
Huntingtower Castle Today
Our tour of the Castle starts in the West Tower in the Hall. The room is large and expansive looking nowadays as the above floors are missing. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful space when the sun streams and lights it up.
We now take some modern stairs to get over to the East Tower.
One of my favourite rooms is the Lord’s Hall. In 1913, workers found the beautifully 16th century painted ceiling hiding underneath wood and plaster panelling. There are a few other places we’ve visited that have had a similar story, and I’m always amazed when I hear about it. I know styles change over the centuries, but it still seems odd to me that people wanted to hide painted ceilings. Of course, it’s probably a blessing in disguise as it most likely helped to preserve the historic painted works of art. Historic Scotland even provides a blanket that you can put on the floor and a torch (flashlight) that you can use to lie down and get a great view of the ceiling. Take your time to explore this room as there are also wall paintings in the windowsill as seen pictured below.
I find it fun to try to imagine how exquisite this room was in its heyday. Of course, the Historic Scotland drawing further helps in this imagination exercise.
When you visit Huntingtower Castle, if you aren’t afraid of heights, be sure to climb up to the garrets in both towers. There are spectacular views of the grounds and surrounding Perthshire countryside.
While you are there, you can also see ‘The Maiden’s Leap’- the space between the battlements on top of both towers. The legend goes that the daughter of the 1st Earl of Gowrie managed to jump from one tower (where her chamber was located) to the other (where her lover was lodged) to secretly visit him. One night, when she was visiting her lover’s room, she heard her mother coming. So, she snuck out, jumped over the gap between the towers, and managed to get back to her room without her mother ever knowing she had left. The next day she eloped with the young man. Looking at the ‘Maiden’s Leap’ in person, all I can say is that she must have really loved that young man to take such a crazy risk with her life!
Here are a few more photos from inside the Castle:
Walter and Arthur are not allowed in the Castle, but they had a great time exploring the grounds and posing for photos.
I hope you have enjoyed this virtual visit to Huntingtower Castle. However, if you are in the Perth area, we recommend that you stop in and explore the Castle in person. You can visit the Historic Scotland website for more information.
Until next time- Explore & Discover!
