Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/247

CASTLE FRASER 231 FOURTH PERIOD There is a wall closet in the second floor, where the word "Lug" is printed on the plan, the entrance to which is concealed by a window shutter in the room from which it enters. In the stone floor of this closet, an aper- ture or hatch measuring 15 inches by 12 inches led down to a small vaulted chamber, measuring 6 feet by 3 feet, and 6 feet high (see section of Lug, Fig. 683). The masonry at the trap is 2 feet 6 inches deep, and the aper- ture was fitted over with a moveable stone. The exact position of this chamber or Lug in relation to the hall window will be understood from the section through the hall (Fig. 683). All knowledge of the existence of this place was lost till about the time of Mr. Skene's visit, when it was accidentally revealed, but its purpose was not discovered till he descended into the chamber, which appeared to him to be merely a " place of conceal- ment, having in the side a very small loophole for the admission of air and light, until, observing a small tortuous conduit in the lower corner descending in the direction of the house below, I became aware of its ulterior and probably real purpose. A large window in the end of the hall occasioned a deep arched recess furnished with a stone seat all round, whither those desirous of a private interview or confidential conversation would naturally retire, and in the upper corner of this recess the conduit of the Lug accordingly terminates, and may have often been the means of betraying the confidence and designs of those unaware of the treacher- ous device prepared to entrap them. " The vaulted form of the recess in the exact apex of which this auricular cavity was placed, would render a whisper below audible to the listener above, where, immured in the heart of the wall, no extraneous sounds could come to divert his attention." Mr. Skene adds that "its function was put to the test of experiment,' 1 and he " distinctly heard what was spoken in the hall below." It is perhaps permissible to infer from the intimacy of Mr. Skene with Sir Walter Scott that he may have communicated this discovery to Sir Walter, and that it thus became the prototype of the "Lug" or "Dionysius' ear/' which plays so important a part in the Fortunes of Nigel. King James is supposed to have had it constructed in the Tower of London, and to have afterwards ordered it to be built up, " the rather that my back is sair with sitting in it for a whole hour." Mr. Skene describes the buildings in the courtyard as 33 feet in width outside, and 27 feet inside, comprehending a range of bedrooms above, and servants' apartments below, built anno 1618 by the first Lord Fraser (J. Bel, 1617, builder). He also mentions incidentally that the builder of Midmar Castle, in the same county, was a George Bel, and that his epitaph may be read as follows in the parish churchyard : " Heir lies George Bel meason 1575." They may have been father and son.