Craigievar Castle is known both for its unique pink color and reputed haunting.

Carirgievar Castle is renowned for many aspects of its appearance. The foremost element that strikes one’s attention is it color which is best described as light pink. Craigievar Castle is based on an L-shape design. At the base of its seven-story height, the castle looks like a strong and solid fortification, yet at its top it turns into a more eloquent and picturesque set of towers, spirals ad gargoyles. Due to this, Craigievar Castle has been described as being picturesque or even as something out of a fairytale. Technically though, it is considered to be affine example of Scottish Baronial architecture. To add to this, it is considered that some of the plasterwork ceilings inside the castle are also fantastic examples in their field, in fact some consider it to be one of the three finest ceilings in Scotland. Craigiever Castle is considered to be an example of the Scottish Baronial Style of architecture, due mostly to its heavy use of relatively useless turrets and points.

Craigievar Castle was initially constructed as a structure for heavy defense, although this is in no way betrayed by its exterior appearance. Originally, Craigievar Castle had four defense towers to its structure, but of these, only one remains. These were all constructed for the Forbes clan (http://www.scottish-heirloom.com/forbes_clan/index.html), specifically for William Forbes in 1626.

Torosay Castle is a castle located in the Isle of Mull, and the location of a “priceless” champagne discovery.

Since 1984 Torosay Castle has been considered to be the clan headquarters of the Guthrie Clan. This is understandably a relatively recent occurrence with regards to Scottish history, but Torosay Castle is also not a significantly aged building. The construction of the building was completed in 1858 and came into the possession of the Guthrie Clan in 1865 (it was not until the sale of Guthrie Castle that Torosay Castle was treated as the seat of Clan Guthrie).

The design of Torosay Castle was created by David Bryce under the commission of John Campbell of Possil. technically the style of Torosay Castel is Scottish Baronial. The castle features 60 individual rooms and is currently used as private home and retreat. The grounds of Torosay Castle are 49,000 square meters in size and are predominantly gardens. There are also 19 statues in the style of Italian sculptor Antonio Bonazza on the grounds, these are considered to be exemplary examples of such art outside of Italy.

Torosay Castle was the location to the discovery of the oldest intact bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne, dated 1893. Due to the fact that the bottle, and presumably its contents, is still in perfect condition, it is now on display in Reims, France. It is regarded is being “priceless” by experts in the field.

Slains Castle is a ruined castle in Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

The Slains Castle of which the ruins of can be seen today is often referred to as the “new Slains Castle”. This is on account of there having been another castle earlier under the same name, although it was destroyed in 1594. The new Slains Castle, or the current one, was built in 1597 by Francis Hay, the 9th Earl of Erroll. The original destroying of Slains Castle came about as a result of the Hays family participation in an uprising against James VI, in 1594.

Slains Castle, under popular local belief, is said to have been an inspiration for Bram Stoker and his book, Dracula. Local tales have it that while Stoker was staying in the area, he was told of a local castle. Upon seeing Slains Castle he is said to have described it as the “Castle of the dead”. This has never officially been acknowledged b Bram Stoker himself.
Slains Castle was held by the Slains family between 1597 and 1916, but financial woe forced them to put the castle up for sale. It was purchased by Sir John Ellerman, but by 1925 he had given up on any hope of fully restoring the Castle and ordered its roof be removed, so as to avoid paying taxes on it being a functional castle. These last actions saw the castle fall into a serious state of disrepair and eventually, degradation to the point of ruin. Currently, Slains Castle is beyond the scope of any conceivable use and is officially recorded to be a ruin. It is currently a Class B listed site with Historic Scotland.

Edzell Castle is a castle in Angus, best known for its walled garden.

As with many ancient Scottish castles, Edzell Castle has seen a number of incarnations and rebuilds. Originally Edzell Castle was constructed in a motte and bailey design structure. The castle itself, therefore, was found on a raised mound of earth, called a motte. This was intended to be a defensive feature. The earth for the raised mound is dug from a ditch that surrounds the motte. Nearby a bailey, or courtyard, would also have been found.

While it is known that Edzell Castle has been rebuilt and its original location is no longer used, further knowledge is in part based on speculation, due to the nature of the record keeping of the time. Also, as the castle is no longer in use and ahs fallen into ruin, it is more difficult to determine its exact nature or history.

Edzell Castle is located roughly eight kilometers north of Brechin, Angus, Scotland. It was constructed on the site of the now non-existent village of Edzell. It was built some time in the 12th century by the 9th Earl of Crawford, David Lindsay. It is recorded to be the original seat of power for the Abbot family. The castle did not serve any significant role in the conflicts of Scotland, except for once being occupied by the forces of Oliver Cromwell. As such, Edzell Castle is known for its gardens and surrounding sculptures.

While a garden like that in Edzell Castle was not necessarily unusual for its time period, this one is unique in the fact that it has survived to this day. It is a rectangular (52 x 44 meter) enclosure with a circular garden on the inside. Recessed within the walls of enclosure lie 21 statues representing planetary deities, liberal arts and cardinal virtues.