Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/585

 SUMMARY 569 THIRD PERIOD the wall of enceinte so as to form a courtyard in the centre. Soon after its introduction this " courtyard plan " became the favourite arrangement in all the larger castles erected in this period, and many old keeps were converted into castles of this description by having additional buildings erected round the enclosing wall of the barmkin. The Royal palaces and the castles of the chief nobles were so rebuilt. Some of the earlier examples, such as Doune and Tantallon, seem to have been erected on the model of certain French castles of the period, having one portion of the buildings set apart as a keep, and detached from the other parts of the castle. This block or donjon was not, however, designed after the model of the old quadrilateral keep, but consisted of a more extended structure, containing numerous public and private apartments, which the more cultivated habits of the time rendered necessary. Towards the middle of the period this idea seems to have been abandoned, and the more domestic form was adopted of a quadrangle with the edifices arranged at convenience around it, without anv portion being specially set apart for defensive purposes. The Royal palaces of Stirling, Linlithgow, and Falkland are designed in this manner. The ornament of this period, like that of the preceding, is derived from the defensive features, but these now begin to be applied in an ornamental fashion, their pristine useful purpose being to a certain extent departed from. In the internal decoration, fireplaces and cup- boards are often treated ornamentally, and are adorned with rather rude imitations of the ecclesiastical carving of the period. In the Royal palaces, and in some of the larger castles, however, the ornament is of a superior character. Towards the close of the period traces are found in the Royal palaces of the approach of the Renaissance style, and at Linlithgow indications occur of the influence of the contemporary Tudor style of England. But these examples of foreign taste are exceptional, and were pro- bably the work of artists from abroad introduced by the Kings. The general tone of the design even in these palaces, and certainly in all the other castles erected at this period, whether on the keep plan or the courtyard plan, is entirely Scottish, and its development from the earlier and simpler forms may be readily traced. FOURTH PERIOD (1542 to 1700). This period is one in which Scottish Architecture took a new departure in regard to the general effect of the external forms and outlines of domestic buildings as well as in the design of the internal details. The ancient forms of military construction, being now no longer required for defensive purposes, became gradually modified and transformed into ornamental features. The machicolated corbel table, the embrasured parapet and bartizan, and the lofty towers for defence and observation, gave place to ornamental representatives in the shape of picturesque and fanciful corbellings, angle turrets with conical