Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/456

 FOURTH PERIOD 44-0 DRUM CASTLE uniformity and balance had not yet become imperative., we here see a decided tendency in that direction, as at Fyvie and other houses of the period. The towers at the opposite angles balance one another, with a long flat wall between, pierced with windows at nearly equal distances. The dormer windows, with their varied ornaments but uniform out- line, are also very characteristic of the period. The towers are no longer crowned with battlements for defence, but the views (Figs. 874 and 875) show that they could still be treated with picturesque effect. We have in this castle a good illustration of the styles of architecture and the domestic requirements of two different periods in Scotland separated from one another by an interval of 250 or 300 years. The old keep shows the domestic arrangements and defensive construc- tion found requisite in the fourteenth century, while the mansion adjoining, with its numerous reception-rooms, bedrooms, and servants' accommodation, displays, in striking contrast, the enlarged and more civilised ideas of the early part of the seventeenth century. The modern additions further demonstrate that only a little enlargement of the staircase and the introduction of a corridor were needed to convert the mansion of the seventeenth century into a commodious and comfortable dwelling, fulfilling all the requirements of the present day. TRAQUAIR HOUSE, PEEBLESSHIRE. This old-world mansion-house, situated on the small stream of the Quair near its junction with the Tweed, and about one mile from the town of Innerleithen, has preserved its antique aspect probably better than any other inhabited house in Scotland. Since the end of the seventeenth century, when the last additions were made, almost nothing seems to have been done to the building beyond the necessary repairs to keep it wind and water tight. Lady Louisa Stuart, the late liferentrix of Traquair, kept up the customs of a bygone age and generation down till her decease in December 1875, within four months of attaining her hundredth year, and her old spinnets, spinning-wheels, and distaffs, which she used to the last, ignoring most of the modern ways, still remain in the house. The present proprietor, the Honourable H. C. Maxwell Stuart, has preserved the venerable aspect of the place as far as compatible with the comforts of a modern gentleman's residence. The house occupies a low position, shut out from extensive views by a circle of lofty hills on all sides, and