Ruthven barracks seen here with some Highland Cattle in the foreground, was built by the Hanoverian troops in 1719.    It was built as a defence for the area after the Jacobean rising in 1715.

The barracks were put to the test again in 1745-46, when a small garrison of men succeeded against a Jacobite army in the early days of the rebellion. 

The barracks were the final rallying point for some of the defeated Jacobites retreating after their defeat from Culloden.   It was at this time that the men were told that Bonnie Prince Charlie had fled to France and that the rebellion was over.  

Being such a prominent site, the hill had been used approximately five centuries before, when a castle had been built by the Comyns in the 13th century.  This castle was later occupied by the infamous Wolf of Badenoch (see the local history section about this barbaric character).

The building now lies as a ruin after the roof was burned when the barracks were captured by the Jacobean army in 1746, although the main areas used as stables as a residential block are still in tact.

Walk round the barracks, and soak up the atmosphere of many battles.