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32 style of their architecture. The central feature out of which this Scottish so-called baronial style de- veloped was the square tower or keep which in itself often rose to a great height, as, for example, in the case of the Tower of Lethington, whose walls, ten to thirteen feet in thickness, rise to a height of eighty feet. These towers in their original object speak eloquently of the insecurity of life, of the unsettled condition, and of the poverty of the people. The tower was the stronghold and the dominating feature of the district. Internally it consisted of single square apartments rising story above story, with one outer door placed high in the wall, and with narrow slits for windows. On such bald and unhopeful foundation by degrees became grafted the charming turrets, the gables, and the other decorative accessories which add such a grace and dignity to the square sombre masses, that form the central feature of medieval Scottish mansions. In the furnishing of these ancient houses, native talent contributed comparatively little. Rich and luxurious furnishings were out of place in strong- holds where the clank of arms and the rough hand of the freebooter were more familiar than the sound of the lady''s lute or the work of her embroidery frame. Such furniture as was of native origin was strong rather than elegant, and the ornamentation it bore was large and bold in character. The cradles in which our ancestors were rocked, the chairs on which they sat, and the beds on which they slept, were strong enough to withstand the rough usage they received in the frequent attacks made on them by unfriendly neighbours, and the workmanship of such a tliorough nature that many of them remain to the present day, proof also against the assault of time. Several pieces of furniture of more than usual interest have been collected in the Bishop's Castle. Of these may be mentioned a black oak cabinet, which is said to have been the work of a prisoner, the head of the noble family of Gordon of Earlston, who, during an imprisonment which lasted for eighteen years, employed his leisure time in carving the whole wood-work of this cabinet. It dates from the seventeenth century, and as the carver must have worked from designs either before him in his confinement, or from such as were familiar to his memory, it forms a testimony to tiie state of the art in Scotland at that time. Some of the carvings are most elaborate and beautiful, but in general they are of rather a bold and grotesque nature. Wood-carving of a much older date appears on what is known as the bed of the Black Douglas, a relic which can be distinctly traced back for four hundred years, but of which the decoration points to a still earlier date. The figures of the main subject are very rudely and grotesquely exe- cuted, but the framework carving by which they are surrounded, and the ornamental panels below, are done in better taste and with more ingenuity, and may have been added to the main 25ortion of the work by a later hand. A very fine example of carved oak Scottish work of the period of James IV. is seen in the sideboard lent by Miss Laing of Portobello. This sideboard, believed to have belonged to Margaret Tudor, Queen of James IV., is riclily decorated with the rose, thistle, heart and crown, and bears Queen Margaret's cipher set in a profusion of rich Tudor carving, altogether forming a piece of remarkably beautiful open-work carving and fine workmanship. Among the chairs which have been lent to the Bishop's Castle Collection, the most important are those which came from the Trinity House, Aber- deen, being the property of the Incorporated Trades of that city. These chairs show dates of manu- facture extending over two hundred years. The oldest of them is that known as King William's chair, which in all probability formed part of the plenishing of the ancient monastery of Trinity, the panels (showing carved heads of monks and warriors) evidently belonging to the early monkish period. Another very fine chair is that presented by Jerome Blak in 1574, which bears his coat of arms and crest, a hand holding a cooper's adze ; and the chair of Alexander Idle, Deacon-Convener of the shoemakers, besides showing the crown and cutting- knife of the craft on the back, bears his name, A. Idle, and the date 1679.

When Scottisli scholars and Scottish soldiers of fortune went out to seek their spheres of activity in the wide fields of the European continent, they brought home with them on their return a know- ledge of the arts, and a love for the amenities of life which were not easily gratified from native sources. From these causes there is no doubt that many of the finer things which found their resting-place in the strongjiolds of powerful Scottisli nobles and of wealthy ecclesiastics were of foreign origin. These objects were the models on which native workmen executed their ruder copies, and from which native taste moulded itself. Above all, French influence was conspicuous in the arts, dress, furniture, and implements of Scotland. The French alliance was long and intimate, knit by the common hatred of the English foe. One of the most striking examples of the French connection, and a remarkable testi- mony at once to the skill of French workmen and to the fine taste of a Scottish ecclesiastic, are the six silver maces which, in the year 1683, were found in