Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/105

DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE 85 FIRST PERIOD DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE, ARGYLLSHIRE. Dunstaffnage Castle, in the Lome district of Argyllshire, stands near the point of a low-lying peninsula jutting out into the sea at the entrance to Loch Etive, and is about 4 miles distant northwards from Oban. The peninsula, about half a mile in length, is about 700 yards in width at the neck, uneven and diversified on its surface, and well wooded. The site of the castle is a rocky platform, rising from 20 to 30 feet above the FIG. 00. Uunstcift'uage Castle. Plan of Ground Floor. general surface of the ground, with precipitous faces, that along the north front overhanging considerably. The walls follow the outline of the rock, and are built sheer up from the edge, so as to allow no foothold on the rock outside. In plan, the castle (Fig. 60) is rudely quadrangular, with great curtain walls, from 9 to 1 1 feet thick, and about 60 feet high