Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/242

 FOURTH PERIOD 226 - DROCHIL CASTLE This passage is only half the height of the rooms, so that a small chamber is introduced above it, entering from a turret stair. The external features of the castle are generally very plain. The mode in which the north-east tower is corbelled out to the square is peculiar (Fig. 680). The square does not form a tangent to the circle, so that part of the circle projects beyond the square on the different faces. The west doorway is said to have been surmounted with the letters I.E.O.M., for James, Earl of Morton, but there is now no trace of this. The window over this doorway, however, still survives, and is more ornate than the other parts of the building (Fig. 679). The style of its pilasters and ornaments is quite characteristic of the end of the sixteenth century. The latter comprise the letters I.D., for James Douglas, and the heart, a part of the Douglas arms. The fetterlock in the centre of the tympanum belonged to the Regent, as Warder of the Borders, fair proof that he built it. The mortise-holes in the window jambs and lintels for the usual iron stanchions are distinctly visible all over the building. The corbelling of the south-west turret staircase (being near the principal entrance) is made somewhat ornamental (Fig. 681). The chequer design on the upper portion shows the fanciful ornamental pattern to which the great parapet corbels of the early castles were finally degraded. At Edzell and similar castles there are examples of the beginning of this process, and it may be traced through all its stages till the corbels become at last reduced to this mere shadow of their former greatness. The shot-holes are also noteworthy, having the usual deep splay of the ingoing cut up with several fillets, the object of which was to check missiles fired into it, and prevent the embrasure from acting as a funnel to conduct bullets into the tower. One angle turret still exists at the north-west angle of the building. It is circular, and so set on the angle that the centre of the circle coin- cides with the angle, which does not therefore cut up into the corbels in the usual way, and is thus similar to the turrets of Heriot's Hospital. This form of corbelling is generally an indication of late work, but here it seems to be introduced as a novelty, in the same way as the central corridors. It is said that the Regent had not had time to complete the castle when he was apprehended and executed in connection with the murder of Darnley, and that in consequence the castle was never finished. CASTLE FRASER, ABERDEENSHIRE. This important castle is situated on a level meadow in the parish of Cluny, about 3j miles south-east from the Monymusk Station of the