Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/175

 ALLOA TOWER 155 SECOND PERIOD the ground to the top of the parapet is 70 feet 6 inches. Such rounded angles are by no means uncommon in castles of the fourteenth century ; but there are few such perfect examples of the parapet carried round the corners as at Drum. Neidpath, in Peeblesshire, is, however, one similar specimen. The size and style of Alloa Tower, before it was altered, with its thick walls and massive battlements, are in general harmony with those of Drum, although Alloa differs in having the battlements provided with bartizans. The later portions of Drum belong to the seventeenth century, and will be described hereafter. ALLOA TOWER. Alloa Tower, situated within the grounds of the Earl of Mar, close to the town of Alloa on the Forth, has been a very large and fine keep, probably of the fourteenth century. The estate was bestowed in 1 360 by King David n. on Sir Robert Erskine, Great Chamberlain, whose descendants became the Earls of Mar ; and it still belongs to the Earl of Mar and Kellie. Unfortunately, the tower has been greatly altered, - PLAN OF EMTfLEMENTS 1 1 1 ' FIG. 121. Alloa Tower. View from the North-West. FIG. 122. and its original features destroyed, the interior having been entirely remodelled, and the exterior cut up with a number of large inserted windows, all arranged at equal intervals, and a good many of which are actually mock windows (Figs. 121 and 123). The top story, which is shown on the plan (Fig. 122), has been comparatively little inter- fered with (except by the insertion of the four windows without seats