Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/518

 FARNELL CASTLE 502 FOURTH PERIOD rested. The water-table above the top of the roof 01 the gallery is also distinctly seen. Such galleries, supported in like manner, were very common in town houses, and may still be seen in many old tenements in Edinburgh. The staircase tower, with its corbelled top (Fig. 929)> was probably added after the building was secularised. Such termina- tions were common about the end of the sixteenth century. FIG. 929. Farnell Castle. View from the South-East. A very remarkable feature occurs at the west end of the south front. A portion of the wall on the ground floor has here been jutted out 1 foot 9 inches (probably for the purpose of containing a closet), and is finished on top with a peculiar battlemented cornice, in a manner which we believe to be quite unique in Scotland. The result of all the alterations made 011 the building has been to convert it into a plan which might be that of a modern house. Farnell Castle is now the property of the Earl of Southesk. MIDHOPE, LlNLITHGOWSHIRE. Midhope is beautifully situated in a picturesque dell near the old church of Abercorn. The house is quite concealed from view till one is almost within call of it. We give a sketch (Fig. 930) of the first glimpse a visitor gets of the house, along a shaded avenue, with quaint gate- pillars on either side, as he ascends from the bridge over the Midhope Burn.