Inverness Castle

The first chief of Clan Mackintosh, Shaw Macduff is said to have been appointed constable of Inverness Castle by Malcolm IV in 1163 after assisting the king in putting down a rebellion in Moray.

[4] In 1428, James I, in his effort to bring the Highlanders to heel, summoned fifty clan chiefs to a parley at Inverness Castle.

However, "where the Parliament was at the time sitting, they were one by one by order of the King arrested, ironed, and imprisoned in different apartments and debarred from having any communications with each other or with their followers.

Lord Alexander remained imprisoned for twelve months, after which he returned to Inverness with 10,000 men and burnt the town, though he failed to take the Castle.

[7] In February 1509 James IV made Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly hereditary keeper of the castle and sheriff of Inverness.

Huntly had been obliged to build a hall and chapel at the castle by James V and Margaret Tudor in connection with his marriage to Elizabeth Keith in 1530.

[12] There was a wayside Hospital dedicated to St Nicholas at Boat o'Brig in Boharm,[13] a Spey crossing where there had formerly been a wooden bridge.

[14] George Buchanan states that when the unfortunate queen found the gates of Inverness Castle shut against her, "as soon as they heard of their sovereign's danger, a great number of the most eminent Scots poured in around her, especially the Frasers and Munros, who were esteemed the most valiant of the clans inhabiting those countries in the north".

[15] George Buchanan's original writings state:[16] Audito Principis periculo magna Priscorum Scotorum multitudo partim excita partim sua sponte afferit, imprimis Fraserie et Munoroii hominum fortissimorum in illis gentibus familiae.which translates in English as: That when they heard of their Sovereign's danger a great multitude of the ancient Scots poured in around her of their own volition, especially the Frasers and Munros, who were esteemed the most valiant families among those clans.While Mary, Queen of Scots was in Inverness she bought gunpowder and 15 tartan plaids for her lackeys and members of her household.

[19] Mary, Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley appointed Hucheon Rose of Kilravock keeper of the castle in September 1565.

The main (southern), which incorporated the old County Buildings including the Sheriff Court, was designed by William Burn (1789–1870) in an early castellated, built in red sandstone and completed in 1836.