Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/391

 ROWALLAN CASTLE 375 FOURTH PERIOD which, as is usual in buildings of this type, springs from corbelling near the ground, the stair to the first floor being a wide square stair, an arrangement very common in late examples. The angle turrets reduce the gable to a mere fragment. The turrets on the main building are somewhat peculiar. They have a profusion of the label-formed corbels so characteristic of Northern work, and they are, contrary to the usual custom, roofed in with a gable instead of the ordinary conical roof. There are thus in this building several examples of the struggle after variety which took place towards the end of the Style. The outbuildings on the west, containing the kitchen and stable offices, and the dining-room on the east, as well as the terrace leading to the entrance door, are later additions. The interior of the house preserves many of its original features. The rooms open through one another, without corridors or passages. The walls are panelled and moulded in wood, and the plaster ceilings are ornamented with ribs and devices. Although quite antique in style and arrangements, it is now occupied as a comfortable mansion, and gives an excellent idea of what such houses were like in the days of James vi. ROWALLAN CASTLE, AYRSHIRE. Rowallan is situated about three miles north-east from Kilmarnock. It has been a delightful mansion-house, having a very pleasant situation FIG. 822. Rowallan Castle. Plans of First and Second Floors. in a well-timbered park on the banks of the Carmel, a clear flowing stream which is here increased by the waters of a small bum. The approach is by a bridge across each