Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/588

 THIRD PERIOD 5?2 SUMMARY By degrees the decencies of life came to be better understood,, and in the larger castles of the fifteenth century numerous sleeping apart- ments, kitchen, offices, etc., were provided in buildings erected in the courtyard. In the keeps also an attempt was made to obtain separate chambers by means of the wings attached to the main building, and in the numerous little wall chambers or closets hollowed out in the thick- ness of the walls. The latter are generally just large enough to contain a bed, but they are invariably provided with a small window for ventila- tion. Cramped as they are, they must have been a welcome refuge from the noise and turmoil of the crowded and reeking hall. It is not easy to realise, even with the aid of accurate plans, the entire mode of life in these abodes. One naturally turns for an illustration to the pages of Scott. But amongst the pictures of mediaeval life so vividly portrayed by the Author of Waverley, we cannot recollect one in which a clear account is rendered of the interior life of the keeps of this period. The ordinary daily life of the occupants is not very difficult to conceive, the day being occupied chiefly with hunting and other out-of-door employments, and the evening with feasting, singing, and story-telling, varied with the welcome visit of the minstrel. But the occasion of an entertainment is more difficult to conjure up in the mind's eye. These events generally extended over several days, the guests having to come from considerable distances. The resources of the house in the form of private accommodation must then have been put to a severe test. The noble lord of the castle would welcome each guest on his arrival as he was ushered by the seneschal, with a full list of all his titles, into the hall, and lead him to the seat of honour at the upper or fireplace end of the apartment. In the keeps there was no dais. or raised floor, as in the great halls of the larger castles. The hall being on the first story, with a vault beneath, did not require to have the floor raised so as to protect it from the dampness of the "marsh." Seated in state at the upper end of the hall, the host and his guests might, with pleasant anticipation, contemplate the preparations for the feast going on in the kitchen, at the lower end. The feast itself was an elaborate and lengthy ceremonial. The chief meal or dinner commenced early in the forenoon. Mr. Parker describes how in England it was accompanied with all the ceremonies and appliances of the pantrier, the carver, and the taster. The ladies and gentlemen above the salt ate elegantly with their fingers, each couple from the same plate, while the herd below the salt tore the viands with knife and claw. The drinking and carousing which followed can easily be imagined, but when the feast was over, the convey- ing of each guest in safety to his or her own pigeon-hole must have been an arduous and delicate operation. On such crowded occasions the hall would still form the place of repose for the great mass of the followers,