The Fairy Flag of Dunvegan Castle in Scotland stirs up years of mysterious history. That’s 1,500 years of history, mixed with a generous sprinkling of fairy dust, all woven into a scrap of ancient silk… On the shore of a sea loch on the Isle of Skye stands Dunvegan Castle. The hereditary seat of Clan MacLeod, this is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Britain. Beneath the rock on which it stands, otters can sometimes be glimpsed playing in the shallows, and on the pebble-strewn beach, oystercatchers keep a watchful eye on their newly hatched chicks.
Bold and forbidding, Dunvegan Castle was built to impress – so what sets it apart from so many of Scotland’s other majestic fortresses? Go inside, walk up the stairs from the dark-paneled hallway, and step into the drawing-room. The answer is hanging on the wall.
The Fairy Flag of Dunvegan at a Glance
At first glance, the Fairy Flag looks like a badly decomposed map, from which all the place names have been erased. But look again, and you’ll see that it’s actually a scrap of fabric, threadbare and yellowed with age, carefully mended by generations of unseen hands; and you’ll also see that small pieces of it have been cut out as keepsakes over the centuries, resulting in an outline that’s just as ragged as the coast on which the castle stands. The tales of the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan Castle are very much a mystery.
But why is it called the Fairy Flag? And where did it come from?
There are so many legends attached to this precious little relic that it’s hard to know which to choose. This is perhaps the most magical story behind the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan Castle is this one.
Iain Ciar, the fourth Chief of Clan MacLeod, was renowned for his good looks; many girls tried to capture his heart, but none of them succeeded. But one day while out hunting, he came across a beautiful fairy princess and they instantly fell in love.
The princess appealed to her father for permission to marry the handsome laird, but he refused. Fairy folk, he explained to her, were immortal, while humans must age and die.
The princess was heartbroken, and her father relented – on condition that she stayed with the MacLeod chief for only a year and a day. When her time was over, she must return to the spirit realm.