Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/121

 ( RAIGIEVAR CASTLE - 105 - FOURTH PERIOD The arrangement of the interior is very much after the old model. The ground floor is vaulted, and contains the usual kitchen and cellars, the wine-cellar having a private stair from the hall. A square tower is introduced in the re-entering angle of the wing, as in the older castles, but here it does not serve the purpose of a stair- case tower as in the early examples. The ground floor of the tower forms an entrance lobby, and the principal stair to the first floor is not circular, according to the old system, but straight and wide, as in the later castles and houses. It starts from the entrance lobby, and goes right across the building. The landing gives access to the hall on one side, and to a with- drawing-room on the other, off which there is a private room, which occupies the first floor of the entrance tower, while a newel stair (of peculiar construction) on the opposite side of the building leads in a corbelled turret to the upper floors (see enlarged Plan of Hall, Fig. 570). The hall is well worthy of attention, as it is almost the only one in Scotland which retains the original arrangements undisturbed. We here see the " screens " so often referred to still in existence and in use. They are formed by a panelled oak screen about 6 feet high, which cuts off a space about 3 feet wide at the entrance end of the hall, with a door to the hall in the centre, and a small pantry at the end of the screen opposite the entrance. From behind the entrance door the small stair to the wine-cellar descends. Over each end of the screen, and partly in the thickness of the wall, are small galleries, no doubt intended for msicians, lighted with little oval windows. The hall is vaulted with the old barrel vault, but with this innovation, that the central portion is groined, and the whole adorned with plaster panelling. There is the ancient form of large fireplace, ornamented with carved work, and having the Royal arms in the panel above. All these features are distinctly seen in the plan, and in one of Billings' plates. The upper floors are divided into numerous bedrooms, entered by the newel staircases at the north-east and south-west corners of the hall. These rooms are for the most part panelled on the walls with wood, and ive ceilings finished with panelled plaster-work, some specimens of hich are also given by Billings. The elevations show the usual contrast between the plain lower stories and the elaborately corbelled and pinnacled upper stories. There is no question here as to the date of the lower part of the milding, such as has been thrown out by Billings with regard to Castle Fraser, Crathes, and other mansions, where a similar contrast occurs between the plain walls of the lower stories and the elaborate decoration )f the upper portions of the building. The date of the erection is known, d the innovations on the traditional form of the plan fully confirm it.