Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/419

 AIKTH CASTLE 403 FOURTH PERIOD of ornament in the north of Scotland, but it has here (Fig. 844) been applied in a more prolific manner than usual, and, it must be admitted, with very picturesque effect. This castle presents a characteristic example of that style of work. The ornamentation of the corbels carrying the projecting staircase of the east front is also very remarkable (Fig. 843). The building has been so much altered and modernised that the original plan is no longer recognisable. The entrance archway (Fig. 843) to the courtyard, however, still remains, with a bold bead and splay on the outside. The pillars in the inner court seem to have formed the entrance to the garden beyond, down a flight of wide steps. The castle was formerly the property of the Allardyces, of that Ilk, a very old Forfarshire family. Sir John, the first Knight, probably built the castle about the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is situated above the eastern steep bank of the Bervie Water, about two miles up from Bervie. AIRTH CASTLE, STIRLINGSHIRE. Situated on the top of a hill, near the Forth, this castle has been FIG. 845. Airth Castle. View from the North-East. greatly altered and added to, but some portions of the angle tower, and