LOCHBUIE

Lochbuie is a tiny community named after the sea loch that adjoins the eastern end of the Ross of Mull. So tiny, in fact, that during the 2005 general election the local populace had their polling station installed in a caravan. However, for a place of its size it has plenty of interest. The most prominent buildings are Lochbuie House and Moy Castle. Lochbuie House was built in 1752, and took over from Moy Castle as the seat of the chiefs of the Maclaine clan, the dominant clan around these parts. Within the grounds of the house is a group of standing stones dating from the Bronze Age. Moy Castle is a castle in need: according to its website the castle urgently needs a new front door, as part of ongoing work to stabilise the structure. All donations gratefully received. The castle played a starring role in the 1945 film I Know Where I'm Going, which tells the story of an upwardly mobile middle-class woman (played by Wendy Hiller) who falls in love on Mull. Like all good castles, Moy Castle has its resident ghost: a headless horseman who rides around the castle at great speed, said to be a son of the Chief of the MacLaines who was decapitated during a battle with his father. St Kilda's Episcopal Church lies on the shore of the loch, and was built in 1876 by MacLaine of Lochbuie. The most interesting feature of the church is a yellow sandstone Celtic cross built into the south wall of the porch. The cross was discovered when the foundations of the church were being excavated, but its origins are unclear, since there is no history of a chapel or burial place on the site.

Map of the area.

Lochbuie House and Moy Castle. Photo by Dave Fergusson, via Wikimedia Commons.