Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/587

 SUMMARY 571 FIRST AND SECOND PERIODS departed from ; the original body remained, although the external garb was altered. The various modifications of the keep plan, which the changes of the times, and the amelioration of manners, had at different periods developed, merely serve to emphasise the reluctance of the country to abandon the old form. It has been mentioned that in the districts on the English side of the borders of Scotland and Wales, where the country was disturbed, similar pele towers to those of Scotland were in use till comparatively recent times. This was quite natural, the square tower being the form generally adopted everywhere for a small defensive dwelling. But neither in those localities, nor, so far as we are aware, in any other place, are developments of the keep plan to be found at all similar to those so general in Scotland. Hence the great interest attaching to them, not only as architectural phenomena, but also as affording indis- putable data for the representation of the manners and conditions of life of our forefathers. The great castles of the First Period, with their extensive walls of enceinte, bear witness to the prosperity of the country at the time, and show that the nobility of Scotland then occupied a position similar in power and influence to that of the neighbouring countries. But their castles were so ruined, and their resources so crippled by the wars of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, that during the Second Period the nobles, and even the King, had to be content with the cramped accommodation of the simple keeps then introduced. How they managed to live, with their families, retainers, domestics, and cattle, in these small fortresses, most of which contained practically only three apartments, it is difficult to imagine. It may however aid us in picturing to ourselves their mode of life, if we consider the uses and condition at this time of the " Hall," even in the great English castles. It was there used not only as the place for dispensing the lavish hospi- tality of the age, but also as a general sleeping-chamber for persons of both sexes and every degree. Mr. Parker points out how " the rude manners of mediaeval times tolerated the indiscriminate use of the hall as a sleeping apartment for centuries after the immorality which the practice engendered had supplied themes for the ribald songs and tales of the earliest itinerant minstrels and romancers." He further mentions that the dais was the only part of the hall which was floored with wood, the remainder consisting of bare earth, to which the tables were fixed. This part of the hall was strewed with rushes or straw, not too often renewed, and being frequented by all sorts of people, and serving as a kennel for their dogs, its filthy condition may well be imagined. Mr. Parker says of it, " The space below the dais was called the ' marsh ' of the hall, and was doubtless often damp and dirty enough to deserve the name."