Saddell Castle (11)
Following its sacking and burning by Sussex in 1556, the castle appears to have remained ruined for the next century, even after it, and the other Macdonald lands in Kintyre, had been conveyed by King James VI to Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll in 1607.  Then in 1650 Argyll granted Saddell to William Ralston of that Ilk, a fugitive from religious persecution in the Lowlands, on condition that he made it habitable within two years.  Ralston was a member of the extreme Covenanter sect known as the Remonstrants.  The Castle was given a new roof, and floors, and the walls and parapet were extensively repaired.

Following the Restoration of the Monarchy, the Covenanters were quite rightly persecuted and William Ralston was imprisoned in Dumbarton Castle for two years from 1665.  The 9th Earl of Argyll, son of Ralston’s old friend, was in command of the King’s forces and used Saddell and Skipness Castles as garrisons for his troops.  In 1668 William Ralston signed a bond in Edinburgh, saying that he would keep the peace and then released. Argyll at this point proved as good a friend to Ralston as his father had been. The tack on the Saddell property had run out and was not renewed but Ralston was made tacksman of a larger and richer estate, of 44 merklands, south of Campbeltown. He died in about 1691 and by the end of the 17th century the estate had been granted to a junior branch of the Campbell family, who became known as the Campbells of Glensaddell. 
dji0790crop scotland 2022 saddellcastle kintyre argyll landmarktrust castle towerhouse fortifiedhouse ralstonofthatilk theremonstrants tacksman