Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/522

 FOURTH PERIOD 506 MIDHOPE an access to the upper floors ; while in the first addition a good timber stair was constructed. On the main floor, where this stair begins, a separate short flight of steps, as will be seen from the plan, leads up to the parlour, which is at a slightly higher level than the old dining- room. In the first addition a stone is built into the front wall, of which a sketch is given (Fig. 932), with an inscription in fine old German letters, probably meant as part of a quotation from St. Matthew xxvii. 58 " ET PETIIT CORPUS JESUS," with reference to Joseph of Arimathaea asking for the body of Jesus. In Waldie's History of the Town and Palace of Linlithgow this is read as " TANGENE BEPRES. JESUS," " Touch not the thorns of Jesus." This stone is a lintel brought probably from some ecclesiastical building. The turrets on the high build- ing form considerable adjuncts to the upper rooms, being from 6 to 7 feet wide inside. Their conical tops (restored in Fig. 932) have been taken off, and they are now roofed over in the same slope as the main roof (Fig. 930), a very fre- quent practice in Scotland. As an example, we may mention that the roof of the very picturesque house in School Hill, Aberdeen, given by Billings in his work, had a conical roof, as shown in his drawing, when he sketched it ; but it has for many years been roofed over, as those at Midhope now are. There have been fine old- fashioned gardens to the south of the courtyard, and there still exist the ruins of an arched alcove or summer-house, with steps leading up to the top, and a terrace walk in continuation. Midhope is in good preservation, and still inhabited by pensioners of the Hopetoun family, whose palatial residence of Hopetoun House is in the immediate neighbourhood. The present house was built by one of the Earls of Linlithgow (of the family of Livingstone) shortly after the restoration of Charles n. (1660), and was their private country house. Their other residence was FIG. 933. Midhope. Entrance Doorway.