Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/429

 FALSIDE CASTLE 409 THIRD PERIOD FALSIDE CASTLE, HADDINGTONSHIRE. Falside Castle is situated seven miles east of Edinburgh, on high ground overlooking the plain between the castle and the Forth. The building consists of the original keep and additions on the south side. The keep (Fig. 354) measures 39 feet 4 inches by 30 feet 7 inches over the walls, and contains four stories (see Section, Fig. 354), the upper one being vaulted. The full height to the under side of the vault is 41 feet 7 inches. The entrance is by a round arched door- way in the north side of the ground floor (Fig. 354). Adjoining the entrance a straight flight of steps in the thickness of the wall leads to the first floor (Fig. 353). In the landing of this stair a trap gives access to a dungeon beneath the stair, which was ventilated in the usual way with a small round hole near the ceiling. From this landing a circular stair led to the upper floors and the roof. The floors above are lighted from each side, except the south, on which side were situated the fireplaces. The first floor seems to have been a common hall, and the floor above was the great hall or prin- cipal apartment (see Section). The latter has a mural closet sufficient for a bed, a garde-robe, and a seated window. There is a small arched niche with pro- jecting sill, but no drain in the east end. The upper floor (Plan, Fig. 353) was no doubt used as bedrooms by the family. There seems to be no evidence of the date of erection of this keep, and from its style we cannot ascribe to it an earlier date than the latter half of the four- teenth or the fifteenth century. The family name of Fauside appears as early ./ ,~, J PLAN OF SECOND FLOOR as the twelfth century in connection .i .11 T. j Fio. 353. Falside Castle. with the locality, and continues down to Plan of Upper Floors. the seventeenth. In September 1547 was fought beneath the walls of Falside the