Dunnottar — Secret of the Honours

Dunnottar stands in ruins on a site occupied since 84 AD by a Caledonian fort, then sanctified by Saint Ninian in the 5th century. This 13th-century medieval fortress, covering one hectare surrounded by sea on three sides, has controlled the maritime and land routes of northeast Scotland for eight centuries. Its red sandstone walls bear witness to fierce resistance against repeated assaults, from the Scottish Wars of Independence to the Jacobite uprisings.

In 1652, when Cromwell's parliamentary troops besieged the castle, the Honours of Scotland had been hidden there for months. This crown, scepter and sword of state, symbols of Scottish sovereignty since the 14th century, must not fall into English hands at any cost. The siege lasted eight months, but the pastor's wife from Kinneff managed to smuggle out the crown beneath her skirts, while the scepter and sword followed other secret paths.

The Whigs' Vault reveals Dunnottar's dark face: in 1685, more than 150 Covenanters were imprisoned there in inhuman conditions for two months, following the repression after Monmouth's rebellion. These Presbyterian defenders, opposed to royal religious authority, mostly perished in this grim underground prison whose remains still chill visitors.

Kinneff Old Church, 5 kilometers south, keeps the most precious secret: it was under its floor that the Honours of Scotland were buried after their evacuation from Dunnottar. The pastor and his wife kept this national treasure until the Restoration, defying repeated searches by Cromwell's soldiers. This modest church thus became the safe of Scottish royal identity.

Dismantled in 1715 after the 10th Earl Marischal's participation in the Jacobite uprising, Dunnottar today reveals its secrets through this coastal route between castle, church and harbor. You take away the story of a resistance that preserved Scotland's soul against English uniformity, and proof that the greatest treasures sometimes hide in the humblest places.