Post by Freddie on Aug 15, 2019 18:34:13 GMT 1
The seat of Clan McDuck
McDuck Castle in The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter from Home by Don Rosa.
McDuck Castle in The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter from Home by Don Rosa.
The seat of Clan McDuck is McDuck Castle (alternately called Castle McDuck) which is located in Dismal Downs, somewhere in Rannoch Moor, a non-fictional location within Scotland. The nearest village is the fictional MacDuich. The castle usually appears in good condition considering its great age. However, in the Barks story "Hound of the Whiskervilles" (1960) the castle is in ruins.
The comics continuity does not establish when McDuck Castle was built, but it first appears (on the fictional timeline) in 946 when the Saxons laid siege to it. For many centuries the castle served as the home of the clan chief. In 1675, the McDucks were run out of the castle due to the depredations of a "monstrous devil dog" in Dismal Downs, later discovered to be a plot by the rival Clan Whiskerville.[3] At this time, many of the McDucks moved to the village of MacDuich and to Glasgow. Even after their departure, the clan still owned the castle and continued to pay the taxes by pooling their incomes. By 1885, only Fergus and Jake McDuck remain to pay the taxes, but their combined income is not enough, causing the Crown to auction it off. Scrooge then buys the estate, allowing his family to reoccupy the castle. He also hires local dogface Scottie McTerrier as caretaker.[4] Sometime after Scottie's death, Scrooge's sister Matilda becomes caretaker.[5]
In the DuckTales continuity, Castle McDuck was built by Scrooge's great-great grandfather Silas who incorporated the castle into an existing Druid stone circle to save on construction costs. This story would date the castle itself to about the 18th century. The Druids, seeking revenge on the McDucks for taking away their sacred meeting place, scared the clan away using trained phosphorescent hounds. Years later, Scrooge returns with Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby and uncovers the mystery. Scrooge befriends the Druids and partners with them to turn Castle McDuck into a tourist attraction. Scrooge plans to give a share of the profit to the Druids as reparations for desecrating their stone circle. The story is loosely based on the Barks story "Hound of the Whiskervilles", which was in turn loosely based on The Hound of the Baskervilles.[6]
The castle appears in the Carl Barks stories The Old Castle's Secret (1948) and Hound of the Whiskervilles (1960) and in the Don Rosa stories The Last of the Clan McDuck (1992), The New Laird of Castle McDuck (1993), The Billionaire of Dismal Downs (1993) and The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter from Home (2004). Other comic book authors have also used the castle, such as Andrew Galton, Dave Angus, and Vicar in The Crying Monster (1982). In the TV series DuckTales, McDuck Castle appears in the episode "The Curse of Castle McDuck".
McDuck Castle in The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter from Home by Don Rosa.
McDuck Castle in The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter from Home by Don Rosa.
The seat of Clan McDuck is McDuck Castle (alternately called Castle McDuck) which is located in Dismal Downs, somewhere in Rannoch Moor, a non-fictional location within Scotland. The nearest village is the fictional MacDuich. The castle usually appears in good condition considering its great age. However, in the Barks story "Hound of the Whiskervilles" (1960) the castle is in ruins.
The comics continuity does not establish when McDuck Castle was built, but it first appears (on the fictional timeline) in 946 when the Saxons laid siege to it. For many centuries the castle served as the home of the clan chief. In 1675, the McDucks were run out of the castle due to the depredations of a "monstrous devil dog" in Dismal Downs, later discovered to be a plot by the rival Clan Whiskerville.[3] At this time, many of the McDucks moved to the village of MacDuich and to Glasgow. Even after their departure, the clan still owned the castle and continued to pay the taxes by pooling their incomes. By 1885, only Fergus and Jake McDuck remain to pay the taxes, but their combined income is not enough, causing the Crown to auction it off. Scrooge then buys the estate, allowing his family to reoccupy the castle. He also hires local dogface Scottie McTerrier as caretaker.[4] Sometime after Scottie's death, Scrooge's sister Matilda becomes caretaker.[5]
In the DuckTales continuity, Castle McDuck was built by Scrooge's great-great grandfather Silas who incorporated the castle into an existing Druid stone circle to save on construction costs. This story would date the castle itself to about the 18th century. The Druids, seeking revenge on the McDucks for taking away their sacred meeting place, scared the clan away using trained phosphorescent hounds. Years later, Scrooge returns with Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby and uncovers the mystery. Scrooge befriends the Druids and partners with them to turn Castle McDuck into a tourist attraction. Scrooge plans to give a share of the profit to the Druids as reparations for desecrating their stone circle. The story is loosely based on the Barks story "Hound of the Whiskervilles", which was in turn loosely based on The Hound of the Baskervilles.[6]
The castle appears in the Carl Barks stories The Old Castle's Secret (1948) and Hound of the Whiskervilles (1960) and in the Don Rosa stories The Last of the Clan McDuck (1992), The New Laird of Castle McDuck (1993), The Billionaire of Dismal Downs (1993) and The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter from Home (2004). Other comic book authors have also used the castle, such as Andrew Galton, Dave Angus, and Vicar in The Crying Monster (1982). In the TV series DuckTales, McDuck Castle appears in the episode "The Curse of Castle McDuck".