Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/158

 FIRST PERIOD 138 TARBERT CASTLE been on an average about 6 feet, but considerably more along the north- west side,, owing to the fall of the hill being in this direction. Adjoining the castle to the north-east there is a second and larger enclosure, already referred to as being possibly the work of Bruce. This forms the lower court, which, like the court of the castle just described, is the rugged, rocky, unaltered surface of the hill-side. This court measures about 300 feet by 240 feet. Two of its sides are formed by a continuation of two sides of the castle proper. At the east corner the wall bends inwards to meet the north-east wall, which is strengthened by two drum towers about 28 feet in diameter, and 40 feet apart. These towers defend the approach to the castle by the sea, and probably the entrance gateway was situated at the bend of the wall near this point. Fig. 109 gives a general view of the south-east and north-east fronts. The north- west enceinte is a continuous crescent-shaped wall, shown on the Ordnance Fio. 109. Tarbert Castle from the Bottth-East. Plan as having had a drum-tower at its junction with the south-west wall (shown by dotted lines, Fig. 108), but of this there is now no trace. On the latter wall, about 30 feet distant from the castle, are the remains of a square mural tower measuring about 20 feet each way. This wall seems to have been continued down to the sea, but extensive quarrying operations and a roadway with houses along the shore have obliterated its lower end. On the south-eastern wall stands the later keep and build- ings, to be afterwards described. Of the north-east, south-west, and south-east walls just described, there are considerable remains, and at their most ruinous parts they can be distinctly traced along their whole respective lengths. The north-east wall with its drum towers on the outside is about 8 feet or 10 feet high. Of the crescent-shaped north-west wall nothing remains but its track along the brow of the hill. At the southern corner of this courtyard, between the keep and the castle, is a triangular piece of ground about 135 feet long by 45 feet wide.