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Dunoon

Dunoon is by far the largest town in Argyll with some 13,000 inhabitants. In the years following World War II, the town benefited greatly from the establishment of a US nuclear submarine base on nearby Holy Loch, and later suffered badly from the economic effects of the base’s closure in 1992. But today Dunoon is once again a lively resort, well-known for the Cowal Highland Gathering, one of the largest in Scotland, where competitors take part in tossing the caber, throwing the hammer and other Scottish events. Held on the last Friday and Saturday of August, the event completely takes over the town with upwards of 150 bands, more than 2000 pipers and drummers, and 40,000 or more spectators.

On Castle Hill are the sparse remains of the 12th century Dunoon Castle, notorious as the setting for a grisly massacre in 1646 when the Marquis of Argyll had scores of his Lamont prisoners hanged from “a lively, fresh-growing ash tree” and their bodies tossed into a shallow communal grave. The grave was rediscovered in the 19th century during construction of a new road. A memorial marks the site. Forty years after that massacre, the castle was burnt down and it remained derelict until 1822 when James Ewing, Provost of Glasgow, cannibalised its stone to build Castle House, a castellated “marine villa” which is now used as council offices.

The upper floors of the house are occupied by the Castle House Museum which has an exhibition entitled “Dunoon and Cowal Past and Present”. There are models, artefacts and photographs bringing the Dunoon of yesteryear to life. There are also furnished Victorian rooms and a shop.

At the foot of Castle Hill is an appealing Statue of Highland Mary, erected in 1896. Mary Campbell was a Dunoon-born lass who became one of Robert Burns’ many lovers. It was an intense affair and, despite being already married. Burns became engaged to Mary. At that time he was obsessed with the idea of emigrating to the West Indies and poems such as Will you go to the Indies, my Mary? Make it clear that the poet’s then-pregnant wife was not his preferred partner in the enterprise. Mary died at the age of 22, officially of a fever, but there has been persistent speculation that she dies giving birth to a stillborn baby.

Dunoon Grammar School merits a special mention since it is second only to Eton in the number of former pupils who became Members of Parliament, amongst them Ken Livingstone, Virginia Bottomley, Brian Wilson and the one-time leader of the Labour Party, John Smith.

Less than a mile to the north of the town, on the A885, the Cowal Bird Garden makes an ideal venue for a family outing. Set in some 10 acres of oak and birch woods, this award-winning attraction is home to a fascinating variety of exotic birds, amongst them macaws and parrots who, if they’re feeling like it, may well croak back a “Hello!” in response to yours; brightly-hued budgerigars, karakiris from Australia, and many other species.

Three miles north of Dunoon, on the A815, is Adam’s Grave, the popular name for a 3500-year-old neolithic burial cairn, which still has two portals and a capstone intact at its entrance. At Sandbank, on the shores of the loch, is the two-mile long Ardnadam Heritage Trail, with a climb up to a viewpoint at Dunan.