Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/71

CAUSED BY GUNPOWDER 51 INTRODUCTION Many manors had towers attached to them, both for security and as adding dignity, in the same way as the towns marked their rank and freedom by their belfries. Another class of manors were built in the form of a tower, generally of three stories in height, and with windows on all sides. These had turrets at the angles, which contained bedrooms, offices, closets, and staircases. They also had a wall or palisade enclosing a court, surrounded by a moat, with gatehouse, etc. - In disturbed districts these tower houses had the ground floor vaulted. The hall and rooms above were entered by an outside stair to the first floor, as in the older keeps. The guard-room and prison were generally on the ground floor. Although gunpowder had been used to a considerable extent during the fourteenth century, it was not till the fifteenth century that it was made available in the form of siege artillery. About the year 1400 cannons were employed chiefly in the field against troops. By 1430 the Royal armies had begun to use cannon against fortresses, and, by the middle of the century, it was recognised as a principle in the construc- tion of castles that they should be built so as to resist artillery. But the feudal nobles were hard to convince that their magnificent castles, which had been reared at so much expense and with so much care, were not impregnable ; and they still clung to the old and cherished forms of lofty towers and curtains, crowned with parapets and machicolations. For some time efforts were made to defend castles against artillery by the erection of outworks, like barbicans, in front of the gates. These were armed with guns, the loopholes being pierced at the base of the walls. Outworks were also constructed in advance of the walls, so as to keep the guns of the besiegers at a distance, and so save the walls ; but it was soon found, as the science of artillery improved, that these outworks were of no use, and that the walls could be battered by guns from a much greater distance. Attempts were also made to arm the towers and walls with cannons. Flat platforms were substituted for the old conical roofs of the towers, and cannons were placed upon them ; but the towers were too weak and too small in diameter for guns of any useful size, and the plunging fire from such a height did little harm. At length, towards the end of the fifteenth century, large siege-guns came into use, and then the nobles had, however unwillingly, to accept the position, and admit themselves convinced that their castles could no longer resist this new means of attack. It now became clear that hence- forward fortresses must be large, with extended works, too great for single individuals to carry out, and that such constructions must therefore be national, and undertaken by Royalty only. Thus it came about that the nobility, finding their castles useless for