The castle is best known for its literary connection to William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, in which the title character is made "Thane of Cawdor".

[citation needed] One curious feature of the castle is that it was built around a small, living holly tree.

Tradition states that a donkey, laden with gold, lay down to rest under this tree, which was then selected as the site of the castle.

Modern scientific testing has shown that the tree died in approximately 1372,[2] lending credence to the earlier date of the castle's first construction.

The iron yett (gate) here was brought from nearby Lochindorb Castle,[1] which was dismantled by William around 1455, on the orders of King James II, after it had been forfeited by the Earl of Moray.

In 1510 the heiress of the Calders, Muriel, married Sir John Campbell of Muckairn,[1] who set about extending the castle.

Cawdor was home to younger brothers of the family who continued to manage the estates, building a walled flower garden in 1720, and establishing extensive woodlands in the later 18th century.

[2] The architects Thomas Mackenzie and Alexander Ross were commissioned to add the southern and eastern ranges to enclose a courtyard, accessed by a drawbridge.