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Iselborgh
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Iselborgh
Iselborgh or Isleborg is a fortification of uncertain location on the western seaboard of Scotland. Suggested sites for the castle are: Cairn na Burgh Beag, the smaller islet that forms part of Cairnburgh Castle; a former castle in Loch an Eilien on Tiree; and somewhere on the nearby islands of Mull and Coll.
There are a few written records of the castle's existence from the 14th to the late 15th century indicating its presence off the coast of Argyll. The name may mean simply "island fort".
The first certain reference was in 1343 when the castle was granted by David II to John of Islay, Lord of the Isles along with Cairnburgh in the Treshnish Isles and Dùn Chonnuill in the Garvellachs. There is also mention in the 13th century Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar of four castles held by Ewen MacDougall of Lorn from the Norwegian crown. Supposedly, MacDougall met the Scottish king Alexander II circa 1249 and "refused a demand for Cairburngmore and three other castles" so it is possible that Iselborgh was one of them.
In 1354 John Gallda MacDougall of Lorn is recorded as giving up any claim to the castles of "Kerneburch and Hystylburch" to John of Islay, the latter being a presumed reference to Iselborgh.
In a 1495 confirmation of a 1390 charter, John of Islay's son Donald granted "command and possession of the castles of Kernaborg and Isleborg together with small Floda and Lunga" to Lachlan Lùbanach Maclean of Duart.
Hector MacLean of Duart was recorded as the "heritable keeper of the following castles" in 1493:- "Dowart in Mull; Carneburgh in the Treshnish Isles off the north-west coast of Mull; Dunconnell in Scarba; Dunkerd in the Garveloch Isles near Scarba; and Isleborg, the locality of which is uncertain".
"Borgh" is evidently from Old Norse: borg meaning fort. The most straightforward rendering of Iselborg is therefore simply "island fort". Another possibility is that "isel" is a rendering of Scottish Gaelic: iosal meaning "low". There are 46 Scottish placenames that contain this Gaelic word but in no such case does it form the commencement of the name. "Isel" could conceivably come from Old Norse: ila, a well or spring.
An unusual feature of the Cairnburgh Castle its that its defences straddle both the island of Cairn na Burgh Mòr itself and its smaller companion isle. Cairn na Burgh Mòr contains a barrack block, chapel, courtyard and guard-house and Cairn na Burgh Beag has another guard-house and a well. Given that "small Floda and Lunga" mentioned in 1495 are also in the Treshnish Isles, Duncan and Brown concluded that Iselborg "certainly lay, with Cairnburgmore, in the Treshnish Group". In 1980 the RCAHMS also believed that "there appear to be good grounds for accepting the view that Isleborgh is an early name" for Cairn na Burgh Beag.
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Iselborgh
Iselborgh or Isleborg is a fortification of uncertain location on the western seaboard of Scotland. Suggested sites for the castle are: Cairn na Burgh Beag, the smaller islet that forms part of Cairnburgh Castle; a former castle in Loch an Eilien on Tiree; and somewhere on the nearby islands of Mull and Coll.
There are a few written records of the castle's existence from the 14th to the late 15th century indicating its presence off the coast of Argyll. The name may mean simply "island fort".
The first certain reference was in 1343 when the castle was granted by David II to John of Islay, Lord of the Isles along with Cairnburgh in the Treshnish Isles and Dùn Chonnuill in the Garvellachs. There is also mention in the 13th century Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar of four castles held by Ewen MacDougall of Lorn from the Norwegian crown. Supposedly, MacDougall met the Scottish king Alexander II circa 1249 and "refused a demand for Cairburngmore and three other castles" so it is possible that Iselborgh was one of them.
In 1354 John Gallda MacDougall of Lorn is recorded as giving up any claim to the castles of "Kerneburch and Hystylburch" to John of Islay, the latter being a presumed reference to Iselborgh.
In a 1495 confirmation of a 1390 charter, John of Islay's son Donald granted "command and possession of the castles of Kernaborg and Isleborg together with small Floda and Lunga" to Lachlan Lùbanach Maclean of Duart.
Hector MacLean of Duart was recorded as the "heritable keeper of the following castles" in 1493:- "Dowart in Mull; Carneburgh in the Treshnish Isles off the north-west coast of Mull; Dunconnell in Scarba; Dunkerd in the Garveloch Isles near Scarba; and Isleborg, the locality of which is uncertain".
"Borgh" is evidently from Old Norse: borg meaning fort. The most straightforward rendering of Iselborg is therefore simply "island fort". Another possibility is that "isel" is a rendering of Scottish Gaelic: iosal meaning "low". There are 46 Scottish placenames that contain this Gaelic word but in no such case does it form the commencement of the name. "Isel" could conceivably come from Old Norse: ila, a well or spring.
An unusual feature of the Cairnburgh Castle its that its defences straddle both the island of Cairn na Burgh Mòr itself and its smaller companion isle. Cairn na Burgh Mòr contains a barrack block, chapel, courtyard and guard-house and Cairn na Burgh Beag has another guard-house and a well. Given that "small Floda and Lunga" mentioned in 1495 are also in the Treshnish Isles, Duncan and Brown concluded that Iselborg "certainly lay, with Cairnburgmore, in the Treshnish Group". In 1980 the RCAHMS also believed that "there appear to be good grounds for accepting the view that Isleborgh is an early name" for Cairn na Burgh Beag.
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