Clan Campbell - Castle Stalker - Photo Print

Castle Stalker stands on a tiny tidal island in Loch Laich, Argyll, on Scotland's rugged west coast. While it was built by the Stewarts in the 1500s, it became a legendary part of Campbell history through one of the most famous bets in the Highlands.

Around 1620, the Campbell Chief of Airds famously acquired the castle from a drunken Stewart Chief. He won it not through a bloody battle, but by convincing the whisky-fueled Stewart into a trade: an eight-oared boat for the entire island stronghold. It is a story of Campbell wit and a wager that the Stewarts never forgot, eventually winning it back after a siege in 1685.

In this evocative photograph by Aly Wight, the castle emerges from a sea of richly textured reddish-brown seaweed. Sunlight pierces the Highland clouds directly above the tower, casting a dramatic glow over the home of these shrewd Campbell ancestors.

If Campbell is your name, your clever ancestors are the ones who talked their way into winning this castle in a drunken wager.