Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/276

 FOURTH PERIOD 260 MUNESS CASTLE Above the entrance doorway there is a large panel with an inscription in German letters, which runs thus : " List ye to know this building quha began ? Laurance the Bruce, he was that worthy man, Quha earnestlie his airis and affspring prayis, To help and not to hurt this wark alwayis. Thezeir of God 1598." It is to be hoped that the " airis " of this " worthy man " will lay his prayers to heart, and take proper means to preserve this stone from falling, which, owing to the ruinous state of the doorway beneath, it now threatens to do. Above the inscription is a panel with the Bruce arms (Fig. 714). Laurance Bruce was a son of Bruce of Cultmalindie in Perthshire. His mother was a daughter of Lord Elphinstone, and mother, by James v., of Robert Stewart, Abbot of Holyrood and Earl of Orkney. Laurance had to flee from Perthshire for a murder committed in some affray, and probably his half-brother's local influence led to his taking up his residence in Shetland. BURGIE CASTLE, ELGINSHIRE. This is a well-preserved square tower, which formed part of a larger building on the Z plan, of which the greater part is now removed. The plan shows the probable out- line of the main block (Fig. 715). The north-west tower and a portion of the main block, with a circular staircase corbelled out in the angle between them, are the only parts of the building now remaining. In the fragment of the main block still left may be seen the great fireplace of the hall on the first floor (Fig. 717). The lintel 'is built as a straight arch with the stones joggled or angled so as to prevent them from slipping (see enlarged sketch, Fig. 715). The centre is ornamented with the arms of the Dunbars, and the date " 1602 zeirs." From the hall there is an entrance to the first floor of the tower, and also to the door of the turret stair leading to the upper floors. The basement of the tower is vaulted, and well provided with loops and shot-holes. The tower is six stories in height, and contains one room, 15 feet square, on each FIG. 715. Burgle Castle. Plans, etc.