Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/428

 THIRD PERIOD 408 THE DEAN CASTLE general dispositions. It has a great keep, which is here entirely detached from the other buildings, while that of Doune is only partially so. The outer buildings contain a kitchen and a banqueting-hall, and private rooms and bedrooms in the tower. Both buildings were approached by outside stairs, and both had a large courtyard enclosed with a high and massive wall, with battlemented parapet, entered from the building. FIG. 352. The Dean Castle. View in the Courtyard. The south wall and part of the easteni wall of enceinte still remain at the Dean, but the rest is gone. The situation of this castle is rather unusual. It stands on low ground near the Kilmarnock Burn, and is closely surrounded with undu- lating hills rising about the height of the roof of the keep. It is difficult to imagine why such a site should have been selected, unless perhaps with a view to concealment.