Welcome to HOLIDAY West Highland - Discover the West Highlands

Appin - ancestral land of the Clan Stewart

Author Holiday West Highland

The romantic and beautiful district of Appin lies between Loch Creran and Ballachulish on the A828 Connel Bridge to Ballachulish road. Bordered by mountains inland and seawards by Loch Linnhe it is steeped in history and is the ancestral land of Clan Stewart of Appin.

The Stewarts fought for Prince Charles Edward Stuart at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 where 92 clans- men were killed or wounded out of 300. The clan gravestone can be seen in the old parish churchyard. With its sheltered bays and idyllic scenery you’ll want to return again and again to Appin with its pretty historic villages. The lovely island of Lismore, only ten miles long, a stone’s throw from Port Appin and accessible by ferry from the pier and also from Oban, is well worth a visit.

Lismore is a fertile limestone anomaly at the very edge of the Great Glen, with no mountains, little heather and no bogs. But it is rich in history and flora which include orchids and meadowsweet as well as herbs (Lismore, in Gaelic Lios Mor, means great garden). The 180 or so population is immensely proud of its island and will be delighted to share its fascinating history from prehistoric times to the present day with you. There are ruined brochs, cairns and castles, all interesting to visit and in magnificent locations.

A good way to see the island is by bicycle. On a clear day the views from Lismore are unforgettable –you can see the distant summit of Ben Nevis in the north, the Glencoe mountains, Ben Cruachan, the Morvern mountains, the island of Mull and in the south the far away islands of Islay and Jura.

The wee ferry from the pier takes ten minutes to cross to the north side, while the one from Oban takes about an hour and docks at the south side at Achnacroish. This trip gives you a good six hours on the island before you return to Oban. You can hire bikes on Lismore and there’s plenty of accommodation if you want to stay overnight, as well as buses and taxis, a shop and a post office.

Further along the main road towards Ballachulish you will meet one of the loveliest views in Scotland. Some say that the view of Castle Stalker (from the Gaelic ‘stalcaire’, meaning stalker or hunter), sitting firmly on its rocky base in a sheltered bay, is the finest in Scotland. Built in the 13th century by the MacDougalls it has a turbulent and bloody history. Still in private hands, much restored and habitable once more, the castle is open on certain days depending on tides and the weather.

An infamous occurrence in Appin’s history was the hanging in 1752 of James Stewart of Glen Duror for the murder of landowner and government official Colin Campbell, known as The Red Fox, of Glenure. The chief suspect was in fact Alan Breck Stewart who afterwards could not be found. The allegedly innocent James was tried at Inveraray by a Campbell judge and jury and hanged at Ballachulish, where a plaque marks the location. His body was left to rot there in an iron cage. A trail has now been established giving locations of this infamous period in Appin’s history including the glen where James lived, the site of his death, the spot where The Red Fox was murdered, the ruins of James’s family home and his grave at Keil churchyard.

The murder was incorporated by Robert Louis Stevenson in his novel Kidnapped. The former railway line from Oban to Ballachulish passes through Appin and must have been one of the most spectacular lines in the UK. You can still see the pretty station buildings along the line and they are still in use. One is a house, another a top hotel and restaurant but the station building at Creagan has been lovingly restored.