Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/400

 FOURTH PERIOD 384 RO WALL AN CASTLE At the south-west angle of the courtyard (Fig. 831) a circular stair, contained in a gabled building, with Elizabethan corners, which is pro- bably of a later date than the buildings to which it is attached, leads up to a private room on the first floor, which -has no other communication with the rest of the building. The stair is also continued down to the kitchen floor. FIG. 831. Bowallan Castle. View of South-West Angle of Courtyard. The eastern or main portion of the house, according to the inscrip- tion on the top of the gablet between the two towers (Fig. 832), was built by John Muir, successor to his father, Mungo, to be afterwards referred to, and his wife, Marion Cunningham. The inscription is JON M VR M. CVGM SPVSIS 1562 or, it may be, 1567, the figure not being easily made out. On the one side are the family arms, and on the other are the paternal bearings of Marion Cunningham, while above these, on a shield, is the lion rampant. In the Historic and Descent of the House of Rowallane, by Sir William Mure, Knt., 1657, we are told that John " tooke great delyte in Policie and planting. He builded the fore wark, back wark, and woman house,