Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/502

 FOURTH PERIOD 486 ALDIE CASTLE and the upper floors there is no direct communication, except by a hatchway in the vaulted roof shown by dotted lines in the corner of the ground-plan. This is an unusual arrangement, except in very early keeps, in which the entrance door was on the upper floor, there generally being internal communication between the ground floor and the first floor, without the necessity of going out into the open air. The most probable position of the original entrance doorway is that which still exists near the west end of the south wall, and leads to a wheel stair which runs to the top and communicates with the inter- Fro. 915. Aldie Castle. View from the North-East. mediate floors. This was a very usual position for the entrance, and there was generally a door to the vaulted ground floor, immediately opposite the outer doorway, which may likely have been the case here also. Each of the upper floors contains a single room measuring about 25 feet 9 inches by 17 feet. Entering off the hall on the first floor is a mural chamber 16 feet long by 2 feet 6 inches wide, lighted with a narrow slit. This appears to have been an original mural chamber in the old keep, and was doubtless utilised as a passage of communication