Dunvegan Castle (Dun Bheagan in Gaelic) towers above the coastline on the northwest of Skye and has existed for over 800 years as the ancestral home of the Clan MacLeod. The current resident is Hugh MacLeod, the 30th Chief of the Clan MacLeod. However, there is archaeological evidence to suggest the castle has existed in some form since the ninth century.

The castle’s association with the MacLeods actually began with Olaf the Black, King of the Isle of Man who was a descendant of the eleventh century Norse King Harald Hardrada. Olaf’s son, Leod married Lady Macarailt, an heiress to Dunvegan. The couple went on to have two sons, Torquil and Tormond, who took the name MacLeod (Mac means “son of” in Gaelic). The descendants of Torquil became the MacLeods of Lewis and the descendants of Tormond became the MacLeods of Harris.

When the powerful Norse King, Haakon, was defeated at the Battle of Largs in 1263, it marked the end of Norway’s stronghold on the islands in the north of Scotland and a new chapter began at Dunvegan Castle. Each generation of MacLeods has left its mark on the castle as architectural styles changed and the castle contains many priceless treasures from the clan’s history. For me, the most special item is pictured below.

It doesn’t look like much, does it? But what you are looking at is an ancient piece of silk cloth that is known as the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan and it has a magical history. There are many different legends surrounding the existence of the flag but there is said to be an element of truth running through all of them. The most popular tale is of an early chieftain who spent time in the fairy realm and fell in love with the daughter of the fairy king. She agreed to marry him and return to Dunvegan Castle for a period of seven years (the time span varies), after which she would return to the fairy realm. Just before she departed, the fairy princess gave birth to a son and she made her husband promise to never leave him alone.

The chieftain was so distraught by the departure of his wife, the clan organised a feast to distract him which lured the child’s nursemaid from the nursery. Discovering the child was alone, the chieftain dashed up to the nursery to find his fairy wife had returned to comfort the crying child. The fairy princess was singing to her son and had wrapped him in a silk cloth. She vanished when her husband came into the room. The song she sang is still sung by the clan today and is known as either the Dunvegan or Fairy Lullaby.

The silk cloth became the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan and legend has it would protect the clan from harm and would summon a fairy army if waved three times. The flag has been used twice, again stories differ, but the clan was saved each time. During WWII, pilots descended from the clan took pictures of the flag into battle and all of them returned safely. It has also been claimed MacLeod soldiers who took tiny pieces of the flag into battle, all came home safely.

Fantastical tales aside, the flag is made from silk from the Middle East and dates back to somewhere between the fourth and seventh century.