Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/404

 THIRD PERIOD 384 - KILCHURN CASTLE has to pass through the narrow entrance door, and across the ground floor of the keep. The additions made in lt93 convert this keep into a castle surround- ing an irregular quadrangle. The additional buildings have been very extensive, and would accom- modate a large garrison, but they are not built with a view to resist a siege. The round towers at the angles and the numerous square loop- holes on the ground floor would, however, suffice to defend the garrison against a sudden attack by Highlanders, which was probably what was to be chiefly apprehended in that inaccessible situation. Although this castle presents a striking and imposing appearance at a distance, it is somewhat disappointing on closer inspection. The interior walls are much destroyed, and the internal arrangements of the plan can scarcely be made out. The buildings have more the appearance of modern barracks than of an old castle. There are two kitchen fireplaces, and probably there were officers' quarters and men's quarters, while the keep and some additional accommodation adjoining (on the east side) would be set apart for the lord and his family. KILRAVOCK CASTLE, NAIRNSHIRE. Originally this castle consisted of a quadrilateral keep, 39 feet by 31 feet, situated on the top of a steep bank above the river Nairn, and seven miles up from the town of the same name. The lands of Kilravock were acquired in the thirteenth century by Hugh Rose of Geddes, and have been in the same family ever since. The keep probably belongs to the fifteenth century, but it possesses few features whereby its age may be determined. The simple corbel table and bartizans of the parapet (Fig. 332) might even be of the fourteenth century ; but the way in which the angle of the parapet over the staircase is carried up to form a watch-turret indicates a later date. In the History of the Family of Rose, by Rev. Hugh Rose, minister of Nairn, it is stated that in 1460 the Baron of Kilravock obtained a licence from the Lord of the Isles " to fund, big ande upmak a toure of fens with Barmkin ande bataling upon quhat place of strynth him best likis within the Barony of Kylrawok." The existing keep was probably built soon after. It has the ordinary characteristics of fifteenth-century towers, such as walls 7 feet in thick- ness, small windows in deeply-recessed bays, chambers in the walls a newel staircase in the thickness of one of the angles, a high window over the fireplace, and the adjoining wall-chamber off the hall. In the seventeenth century the keep has been enlarged into a castle surrounding a courtyard in a rather unusual manner. A square staircase (Fig. 333) was built adjoining the south-west angle, and a large building attached to it, so as to form the south front of the quadrangle. The