Cowal before it was the defended medieval homestead of the MacEwens; at first there was a palisaded enclosure, and then a promontory fort with a timber rampart. The remote areas in the north east of Cowal, which were theoretically under the dominion of Clan Lamont, were used by Scottish kings for hunting; indeed, Cowal was the last part of Britain to have wild boar. When King John Balliol was threatened by his rival, Robert de Bruys, Balliol's ally, the king of England, established Henry Percy at Carrick Castle, in the region; likewise Dunoon Castle further south. De Bruys expelled the English
Beinn Mhòr (Cowal) of Benmore Botanic Garden, with a track leading up to the steep grassy slopes of A' Cruach and the secondary tops of Creachan Beag and Creachan Mòr to a wide shoulder leading to the summit of Beinn Mhòr itself. Beinn Mhòr (Cowal) Beinn Mhòr is the highest Mountain on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is relatively little known and infrequently climbed, but has a high topographic prominence to height ratio and consequently commands a good all round view. Beinn Mhor is within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. To its east, Benmore Botanic Garden