Castle Sween (9)
Following the granting of Castle Sween to Angus Óg of Islay, the MacDonalds appointed the MacNeils to be the hereditary constables of Castle Sween.  (This is another common cause of misunderstandings about the castle's history, that has resulted in members of the (modern) Clan MacNeil claiming it as a &quot;MacNeil castle&quot;!  It wasn't, they just worked here!)  

Actually, it's not quite as simple as that!  There was rather more to the Constable's job than oiling the drawbridge chain and ensuring the garderobes flushed properly!  When Hector Torquil MacNeil, 1st of Taynish (just across Loch Sween from here), died in about 1450, he left control of the castle to his daughter, Erca.  She subsequently married Alexander MacMillan and the couple embarked, in the latter half of the 15th century, on the last major addition to Castle Sween, the large keep which projects from the north-east corner of the castle, known as MacMillan's Tower. They also appear to have built a large east range occupying much of the eastern half of the present courtyard.  

It is said that a meeting took place here between John, Lord of the Isles and the Earl of Douglas in 1483.  The former received 'right great gifts' of clothes, wine, silk, English cloth and silver, and offered the Earl of Douglas in return a present of mantles.  While that may be true, it is somewhat at variance with the fact that the Lords of the Isles were stripped of their lands and properties by King James III of Scotland in the 1470s, and in 1481 the Crown appointed the Campbells to be keepers of Castle Sween. 
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