THE CASTLES OF SCOTLAND
_Prehistoric and other Earthworks._--The numerous remains of strongholds
and defensive works of a prehistoric character readily fall as a rule
under one of the divisions used in describing the English examples. They
are usually of a circular or oval formation, and where irregular the
shape has been determined by the site.
The Hill-forts, known as Vitrified Forts, are, however, not represented
in England, and, although found in a few places upon the Continent,
appear to have been chiefly developed in Scotland. By some means, not
definitely determined as yet, the walls of these strongholds have been
subjected to intense heat, whereby the stones have become plastic, and
amalgamated when cool into one coherent mass. It is unnecessary to
dilate upon the obvious advantages which a homogeneous defence of this
nature would possess. These forts chiefly lie in a broad band between
the Moray Firth and Argyle and Wigtown, and are generally constructed of
igneous rocks; when provided with a suitable flux of alkali in the form
of wood-ashes or seaweed a comparatively moderate heat would be
sufficient to cause fusion. The walls of Vitrified Forts are of about
half the thickness of unvitrified, and appear to belong to the Late
Celtic Age.
_Brochs_ are also peculiar to Scotland. They are massive, tower-like
buildings, chiefly occurring in the northern counties and upon the
islands; they are remarkably similar in outline and construction, and
they have been ascribed chronologically to the period immediately before
or after the Roman occupation of Britain, and as being essentially
Celtic. The Broch of Mousa is generally believed to be the most perfect
example extant; it is in Shetland, and consists of a wall 15 feet thick
enclosing a court 20 feet in diameter. The wall is about 45 feet in
height and contains a solitary entrance, narrow and low. In the
thickness of the wall, and approached by three internal openings, are
chambers, while a spiral staircase leads upwards to where passages
constructed in the walls are served by the stairway. Other Brochs which
have been examined appear to possess a similarity of plan, but some have
subsidiary defences in the shape of external walls, ramparts, and
fosses; thus the example at Clickamin, Lerwick, was surrounded by a
stone wall. That found upon Cockburn Law, and known as Odin's, or Edin's
Hold, is of note by reason of the double rampart of earth surrounding
it. It is one of the largest as yet discovered, the wall being 17 feet
thick and the area 56 feet wide. Probably the many hut circles which
surround this Broch are of later date and were formed from its ruins.
The great thickness of the wall is exceeded, however, by the Broch at
Torwoodlee, Selkirkshire, by 6 inches.
With the advent of the historical period firmer ground is reached, and
there are numerous evidences that the Motte and Bailey Castle was
introduced at an early period into Scotland. During the second half of
the eleventh century this was the prevailing type as in England.
It has been found possible to divide the era of castellation proper in
the northern kingdom into four distinct periods:
_First Period_, 1100-1300.--The roving spirit and warlike disposition of
the Normans prompted their adventurers to penetrate into the
fastnesses of the North, where the innovations they introduced made
them acceptable in the main to the inhabitants. They taught the latter
how to raise towers of a design based upon the Rectangular Keep, with
thick cemented walls, and many of the great fortresses, such as
Edinburgh, Stirling, and Dumbarton, originated at this time. The early
type of Keep was quadrangular in plan with towers at the angles, which
were sometimes detached from the main building and placed upon short
curtain walls; but some were naturally modified or specially adapted to
the site like those of Home and Loch Doon. The use of water as a defence
was recognised at an early stage; some towers were placed on islands in
lakes, and most of them were furnished with moats and ditches. At this
period castles were seldom placed upon high promontories. The
workmanship was as a rule poor, rough, and crude, but some exceptions
occur like Kildrummie and Dirleton.
_Second Period_, 1300-1400.--The years of this century were marked in
Scotland by anarchy, war, and bloodshed, which devastated the kingdom
and placed the arts of peace in complete abeyance, while poverty was
universal. The period was consequently unfavourable for the erection of
Scottish castles upon a large scale, but many scores of small Keeps
sprang into existence. Bruce was antagonistic to the building of large
and roomy castles, arguing that their capture by an invader would give
him a standing in the country which otherwise he would not possess.
The towers erected were based upon the Norman Keep; they were of stone
throughout, so that their destruction by fire was impossible. Their
walls were so thick and massive that restoration after a siege was easy.
The basement was always vaulted, and was intended for storage purposes
and the herding of cattle in an emergency. As a general rule it had no
interior communication with the upper floors, but trap-doors are not
unknown. The entrance to the building was on the first storey through a
narrow door reached by a ladder; it gave upon the Hall, the chief
apartment, where all dined in common, and the household slept, a
subsidiary half floor being constructed above for this purpose.
[Illustration: BARTIZAN.]
The second floor was the private apartment of the chieftain and his
family, and was also provided with a wooden gallery for sleeping
purposes. The roof was a pointed arch resting solidly upon the walls and
covered with stone slabs. At the angles of the building bartizans were
usually built, although rounded corners like those at Neidpath and Drum
sometimes occur. In the massive walls spiral staircases, small rooms,
cupboards, and other conveniences were arranged. Round the Tower a wall
was generally erected, within which the stables, offices, and kitchens
were built. In the wall of the Tower itself, and sometimes below the
level of the ground, the universal "pit" or prison was built, ventilated
by a shaft carried upwards in the thickness of the wall. At times the
battlements were provided with parapets resting upon corbels but
executed in a crude manner.
[Illustration: BOTHWELL CASTLE, LANARKSHIRE.]
The century in question saw numerous castles of this type come into
existence, all based upon the same plan, that of the king differing only
in size from that of the small chieftain. The largest are from 40 to 60
feet square, but the majority are much smaller. These Keeps formed
nuclei for subsequent additions as at Loch Leven, Craigmillar, Campbell,
and Aros, and many of them served as ordinary residences down to the
seventeenth century, long after the tide of war had passed.
_Third Period_, 1400-1550.--With the coming of peace and a period of
commercial and industrial prosperity, the nobles of Scotland were able
to observe the progress of castellation around them in England and
France, and began to adopt the styles which they found in those
countries. A type of castle appeared based like that of Bodium upon a
French ideal,--the building of a high embattled wall strengthened with
towers around a quadrangular space. This plan, derived from the
Concentric ideal, was adopted for the largest castles, such as Stirling,
which is the most perfect example of a courtyard plan, and Tantallon.
In the smaller castles the Hall is placed in the centre with the
kitchen, pantry, and buttery adjoining it, and the lord's solar and
private apartments at the daïs end. The wine-vaults and cellars are
built beneath, while the bedrooms occur above. In contrast to the
English buildings of the period, the question of defence was the
dominating idea in spite of the altered conditions of better living and
increased luxury. Many plain and simple Keeps were also built during
this period.
_Fourth Period, after_ 1550.--The development of artillery led to
alterations being made in castellation, while the progress of the
Reformation gradually introduced the fortified mansion and Manor-House.
Many small Keeps, or Peel Towers, were built, however, chiefly on the
Border. Ornamentation up to this period had been conspicuously absent,
but now it assumed a very high importance. Corbelling became almost a
mania,--floors, windows, parapets, chimneys, and other details
projecting to an excessive distance in order to enhance the effect. The
bartizans were covered with high conical roofs, and turrets similarly
ornamented became a prominent style. The accommodation in the upper
floors was greatly increased when compared with the basement, through
the excess of corbelling. Gables were furnished with crow-steps, while
machicolation became at times almost fantastic. Gargoyles shaped like
cannon in stone are a marked feature of the period.
_Bothwell Castle, Lanarkshire (1st Period)_
Bothwell Castle is generally termed the grandest ruin of a
thirteenth-century castle in Scotland. It belonged in the thirteenth
century to the Murray family; was captured by Edward I. and given to
Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. The English had possession until the
year 1337 when, after capturing it, the Scots dismantled it. From the
Douglas family it passed by marriage to the Earls of Home. It is placed
upon a rocky promontory above the Clyde, and consists of an oblong
courtyard with high curtain walls and strengthening towers, round or
square, while a large circular donjon lies at the west end. The latter
bestrides the enceinte and is separated from the bailey by a moat; it is
of noble proportions, 60 feet in diameter and 90 feet high, with walls
15 feet thick. The Tower forcibly suggests that at Coucy in many
particulars. The Hall and various other apartments occupy the eastern
portion of the Bailey.
_Neidpath Castle_ (_2nd Period_)
Neidpath Castle is situated upon elevated land overlooking a winding of
the Tweed. It was built upon the =L= plan, probably in the fourteenth
century, being a main central tower of the Keep type with a square
projection of considerable size attached to one side. The walls are 11
feet in thickness and the original door was on the basement floor facing
the river, a departure from the general rule. A spiral stair gave access
to the upper storeys. The Tower was originally of enormous strength,
being really two immense vaults superposed upon each other, but other,
wooden, floors have been inserted between. The parapet and corners are
rounded similar to those at Drum Castle. It was greatly altered and
added to in the seventeenth century. No particular history attaches to
the building, which belonged to the Hays of Yester for centuries; it has
only undergone one siege, that by Cromwell, when it surrendered after a
short defence.
[Illustration: NEIDPATH CASTLE, PEEBLES.]
_Edinburgh Castle (3rd Period)_
The site of Edinburgh Castle has undoubtedly been occupied by some
description of fortress from the most remote antiquity. The Romans
occupied it and subsequently Malcolm Canmore fortified it as an aid
towards keeping the English out of Scotland. In 1291 Edward I. besieged
and took it in fifteen days; he recaptured it again in 1294. In 1313 it
fell into the hands of Bruce by a daring escalade, and was stripped of
its defences. Edward III. rebuilt it, and placed a strong garrison
there, but the Scots took it four years later. David II. refortified it
and rendered it so strong that neither Richard II. nor Henry IV. had any
success in their attempts to take it. Since that period it has undergone
a number of sieges.
It is built upon the courtyard plan, and is one of the survivors of the
four chief fortresses in the country, the others being Stirling,
Roxburgh, and Berwick.
The moat at the entrance is now dry and filled up, and the Gateway there
is modern. The Argyle Tower (sometimes called the St. David's Tower) is
a portion of the old castle, as are also the ruins of the Wellhouse
Tower, while St. Margaret's Chapel is the oldest building and also the
oldest church in Scotland, containing Early Norman work and probably
also Saxon. The general aspect of the Castle suffers much from a
picturesque point of view by the addition of the great demi-lune battery
and ranges of modern buildings.
_Stirling Castle (3rd Period)_
The commanding rock upon which Stirling Castle is placed was originally
an old hill fort, but in the twelfth century was one of the four chief
castles. Thus in 1304 it held out for three months against Edward I. and
a powerful army. So important was it considered that Edward II.
attempted to relieve it, and thus led to Bannockburn. Baliol occupied
it, and King David only captured it after a long and obstinate siege. At
the Stuart period it became a Royal Castle and the favourite residence
of the Scottish kings. The present walls are undoubtedly raised upon the
old foundations, but, so far as antiquity is concerned, the oldest part
of the Castle remaining is the Parliament Hall opening from the Inner
Ward which is of late Perpendicular architecture. The Palace is of the
Renaissance, and dates from 1594.
[Illustration: EDINBURGH CASTLE, FROM THE TERRACE OF HERIOT'S HOSPITAL.]
_Dunnottar Castle, Kincardineshire (3rd Period)_
One mile south of Stonehaven stands Dunnottar Castle, upon a flat
platform of rock with the North Sea washing three of the precipitous
sides. A small isthmus, not much above the level of the sea, connects it
to the mainland.
The oldest parts of the Castle date from c. 1382. The entrance is at the
base of the rock upon the land side, where an outwork of remarkable
strength is placed. After ascending a steep incline a tunnel 26 feet
long is reached, also defended, and a second similar defence occurs
beyond, thus the approach was of an extremely formidable character.
The Keep stands at the south-west corner, and is of the =L= shape four
stories in height, and built early in the fifteenth century. The stables
and domestic buildings are of a later date, and arranged round part of
an irregular courtyard. The Castle, although credited with being one of
the most impregnable in Scotland, and to which the Scottish regalia was
entrusted for safe keeping during the Commonwealth, was captured by Sir
William Wallace in 1297, whose troops scaled the precipices and put the
English garrison of 4000 men to the sword. In 1336 Edward III.
refortified it, but the Scots took it as soon as he had left the
kingdom. General Lambert blockaded the Castle in 1652, and eventually
captured it.
_Tantallon Castle (3rd Period)_
Tantallon Castle is of the courtyard type, similar to Caerlaverock and
Doune, and was erected about the end of the fourteenth century. Situated
upon a rocky precipitous site, with three sides washed by the North Sea,
it was only imperative to construct defences upon the fourth or west
side. A deep ditch cut in the rock, curtain walls 12 feet thick and 50
feet high, battlemented, with a level court in front, beyond which was
another deep ditch,--these were the defences deemed all-sufficient to
baffle intruders. The Keep also acted as a flanking defence to the
curtain walls, and contained the only entrance, which passed
completely through it. Many traces exist of the work carried out in
the early part of the sixteenth century in the endeavour to make it
impregnable to artillery. The buildings now occupy only two sides of the
interior quadrangle, the rest having been dismantled.
[Illustration: DUNNOTTAR CASTLE, KINCARDINESHIRE.]
In the rich history of the Castle we find that in 1528 James V. invested
it with 20,000 men and a formidable battering train, the structure
itself being supplied with large artillery. The siege lasted twenty days
and proved unavailing, the great thickness of the walls resisting the
efforts of the gunners. It underwent another siege in 1639 when the Earl
of Angus made a stand in it against the Covenanters. General Monk
invested it and found after two days that his mortars had no effect; he
then tried heavy siege guns which breached the wall, but the garrisons
retreated into the central tower where they were safe, and were allowed
to capitulate upon good terms. The fortress fell into ruin in the
beginning of the eighteenth century.