A bedroom used as a refuge for toads and frogs and another with a grisly story to tell. John and Tricia Hobbs discover some of the secrets of a Scottish castle.

FANCY a taste of the lifestyle of a Scottish laird? Then you need look no further than Brodie Castle, a maginficent 16th Century pile nestling on the outskirts of a forest not far from the Moray Firth.

And it won't cost you a fortune to stay there. A party of 14 can book into the laird's apartment and enjoy three floors of luxury, which includes seven bedrooms, a study and games room, private dining room and kitchen, for as little as £30 per person a day.

During your stay, you can then soak up much of the tumultuous history of the Brodies of Brodie, which has made the family rather special over 800 years.

Although the castle was built in 1567, the Brodies were first recorded as having lands in the "Province of Moray" under King Malcolm IV as far back as 1160.

It was the 12th Laird of Brodie, Alexander, who began building much of the present-day house, with major work being done on the east wing in the 19th Century. The result is one of the finest examples of a laird's home to be found in Scotland.

From a library, with books collected by generations of Brodies and largely built from imported American oak, to a stunning dining room, dominated by a voluptuous painted ceiling of maidens representing the four elements of earth, fire, air and water, the castle reveals a fascinating and comprehensive insight into the Brodies of Brodie.

Often eccentric, there is the Green Bedroom, where Old Etonian Ninian Brodie recalled that his mother, Violet, hoarded toads and frogs. It became known, not surprisingly, as the Toad Room.

It was Ninian, who spent much of his time as an actor with the Old Vic company in London, who eventually handed over Brodie Castle to the National Trust for Scotland.

Before his death in 2003, he recalled: "My mother and father showed an astonishing flair for collecting 20th Century paintings and drawings, including early English watercolours. They paid only modest sums to artists, whose work today is valued at more than a hundred times the original price.

"In the 1960s, however, the ever-increasing cost of upkeeping the castle became alarming and we decided to approach the National Trust for Scotland so the castle could be preserved for all time. Thanks to the trust, it continues to be a happy house."

But Brodie was, perhaps, not always such a happy house.

In 1786, Lady Margaret Duff, the wife of James, the 21st laird, was burnt to death after her dress caught fire as she was reading beside her bedroom fireplace.

For 58 years after her death, James went to that room, locked the door and held a solitary vigil. The visitor passes through this room on the tour of the castle.

Evidence that Brodie was always a family home comes in the nursery and nanny's rooms, which among other things, boast two Victorian rocking horses and sheet music for the likes of Little Boy Blue and Sing a Song of Sixpence.

The Brodies have always had a great affection for gardens and wildlife. More than 400 different varieties of daffodils are planted in the castle grounds and the tiny loch, which Ninian Brodie always called a pond, is home to a wide range of birdlife and fish.

My wife, Tricia, and I stayed in one of two lodges on the Brodie estate during our visit to the castle.

The Cormack lodge, cosily decorated and furnished, with a log fire in the lounge, and a well equipped kitchen and bathroom, provided excellent self-catering accommodation. It also had a large, well-kept garden, which attracted the likes of bullfinches and the odd deer from the adjacent pine forest.

Venture not far from the village of Brodie and you can come across some excellent inns and eating places.

Visit the Kimberley inn at Findhorn, overlooking the Moray Firth, where you can glimpse an osprey diving for its prey and even a red squirrel, and you will be able to taste some of the finest fish and chips in the land. And a dinner at the Cawdor tavern, next to the castle bearing that name, is something special. I tucked into lamb chops with a rhubarb and apple compote. Verdict: Delicious.

The charm of Moray, its towns like Forres and Nairn, its forests and, of course, its castles, owes much to it remaining largely unspoilt by commercialism - and long may it stay that way. One thing is certain: We will be back to Brodie