Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/164

 SECOND PERIOD 144 INTRODUCTORY seem to have been constructed chiefly of wood, and were frequently destroyed either by accidental fires or by the enemy. The mansions of the nobility in the country, being constantly liable to be attacked and burnt, were necessarily built of stone ; while from the impoverished condition of the barons at this time, they were of the simplest form. All that was required was a stronghold sufficient to accommodate the owner's family and personal retainers, and to protect them from sudden attack. The square towers or Norman keeps which had become familiar to the Scots in their frequent invasions of the northern counties of England, naturally became their model, and all the castles of this period preserved to us are built on this plan. These castles consist of a square or oblong tower, with thick walls built sometimes with ashlar and sometimes with rubble-work, and defended from the parapet at the roof, the angles of which are rounded, or more generally projected on corbels in the form of round open bartizans. The parapets and bartizans have frequently open machicolations, but sometimes merely corbels without openings, and sometimes the parapet is carried up flush with the wall, without projection or string- course. The keeps of this period sometimes depart from the original Norman model to the extent of having a small wing added at one corner, so as to give the building the shape of the letter L. Such keeps are described as being built on the L plan. The ground floor is always vaulted with a plain tunnel vault, generally semicircular, though occasionally pointed, and was used as a store-room, or as a stable for the protection of cattle, a loft for the domestics sleeping in being generally formed in the vault. There is frequently no communication from the ground floor to the first floor, except by a hatch in the vault. The principal entrance to the tower is usually on the first or second floor level, and was approached by a movable stair or ladder. The hall occupies the whole of the first floor, and is usually vaulted with a plain semicircular or pointed barrel vault. This is generally divided with a wooden floor into two stories in the height, as is apparent from the rows of corbels which almost invariably run along each side to carry the upper floor. The windows and fireplaces which occur at the level of the upper chamber in the vault also show, where they are introduced, that it was occupied as rooms, and was not merely a gallery, as is sometimes thought. Above this there is a second story containing the private apartments of the lord and his family, and there is also usually an upper chamber, either in the roof or vaulted, so as to carry the roof. The roof is generally constructed with stone slabs, well dressed and grooved into one another, and resting on the vault beneath. The gutter is also formed with dressed stones, every alternate stone having a drain throiigh the parapet with a projecting gargoyle, either plain or carved in