Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/388

FOURTH PERIOD 372 -r- MIDMAR CASTLE MIDMAR CASTLE, ABERDEENSHIRE. Of this picturesque specimen of the Northern Scottish style of the seventeenth century, there would appear to be almost no history pre- served. It is situated in a sequestered glen, and in a region remote from railways, on the northern slope of the Hill of Fare, and about half way between the valleys of the Dee and the Don. Midmar has changed hands frequently, and has borne different titles, having been called "originally Midmar, next Ballogie, then Grantsfield, and now it is Midmar again." The building has been a good deal added to and altered, but the main features of the original design are quite discernible. It has originally been built on the Keep plan, with diagonally opposite towers, that on the south-east being circular, and that on the north- west square. Various additions have from time to time been made to the original plan, forming an open courtyard to the north (Fig. 819). GROUND PLAN 4 f- FIG. 819. Midmar Castle. Sketch Plan. The round tower has had some modern additions added to it on the south which are omitted in the view. It is six stories in height, and has a turret stair in the angle, to which it is united by some picturesque corbelling (Fig. 820). The square tower is finished with a gabled roof and round angle turrets which have the broken or chequered corbel course and the cable ornament so common during the Fourth Period of Scottish Architecture (Fig. 821). This tower has also a stair turret in the angle,