Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/113

 DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE - Q3 - FIRST PERIOD By a charter which still exists, King Robert grants to Sir Arthur Campbell " the Constabulary of Dunstaffnage and the Maines thereof which Alexander Argyle had in his hands ; " while David n., in the fourth year of his reign, dates a charter from Dunstaffnage. In 1455 Hume of Godscroft tells us that Earl Douglas "by flight got him to Dunstaffnage, where, finding Donald Earle Rosse, and Lord of the Isles, he incited him to make war against the King, James n., in his favours ; " but whether this usurping and semi-independent chief was in possession of Dunstaffnage at this time is a disputed point. In 1490 James iv. seems to have twice visited Dunstaffnage in pursuance of his policy of winning the favour and of attaching to his interests, by personal intercourse, the wild western chiefs. Generally it may be said that the castle was held in the interest of the Sovereign, and this continued to be the case down to the period of the rebellion in 1715, and again in 1745, when troops were quartered within its walls. Now a small portion of it is occupied by one or two fishermen, who find its courtyard a convenient place for the peaceful occupation of mending their nets. BOTHWELL CASTLE, LANARKSHIRE. Of our thirteenth-century castles, Bothwell, on the Clyde, is the finest ; indeed it is probably the grandest ruin of its kind in Scotland. This castle belonged in the thirteenth century to the De Moravia or Murray family. It was taken by Edward i., and by him given to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who was Governor of that part of Scotland. The castle seems to have been a good deal in the hands of the English till 1337, when it was taken by storm by the Scotch and dismantled. It afterwards passed to the Douglas family by marriage, and continued in their possession till their forfeiture under James 11., in 1445. The castle is now the property of the Earl of Home. Bothwell Castle is situated on a rocky promontory, having steep banks sloping on the south and west to the river Clyde, while on the east and north it was cut off from the adjoining level land by deep and wide ditches, the outline of which may still be traced. This castle (like those of the corresponding period in France and England) consists of a great courtyard or bailey (Fig. 68), surrounded with high enclosing walls, strengthened at the corners with round and square towers, and provided with a great round donjon dominating the whole. The total length of the building is 325 feet, by 140 feet in width. The donjon (Fig. 68) is, as usual, situated on the enceinte, and is cut off from the court by its own ditch and parapet. The donjon and considerable portions of the south curtain and towers belong probably to the latter half of the thirteenth century. The masonry of these por-