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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Dunvegan Castle
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(NW coast of Skye) Stronghold on a rocky inlet, the home of the chieftains of the Macleod clan since the 13C. Much added to and rebuilt over the centuries, particularly in the past 150 years, the fabric of the castle is now less interesting than the contents accumulated by the family over eight centuries. The best known of these is the Fairy Flag, a stretch of tattered silk which legend claims to have been given as a farewell gift to the Macleod chieftain in about 1400 by a fairy who had lived with him as his wife; history suggests, with hardly less romance, that it is a holy relic brought back from the Crusades, when it was probably believed to be part of a saint's garment.
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