Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/98

FOURTH PERIOD 82 BALBEGNO to those on the wing, the remains of which are traceable internally, but they have been obliterated externally, owing to considerable alterations which have been made on the upper part of the castle, when the south- east front was finished with the existing plain crow-stepped gable (Fig. 546). The original parapet however still remains on the wing, although sadly mutilated. It is carried up as a tower higher than the main building, and battlemented, and has been ornamented with circular medallions, each containing a head similar to those at Craigstone and Huntly Castles. As at Huntly Castle, there is also a mock window, with a balustrade in front, and there are carved figures looking out at the window. On the high gable over the staircase there are figures in the style of those at Tolquhan, and it is said that at one time the build- ing was ornamented with a profusion of such designs. All these features correspond in almost every detail with those of other buildings of the end of the sixteenth century or the beginning of the seventeenth. In considering the rather exceptional employment of groined vaulting here and at Towie Barclay, it should be kept in mind that most of the castles of this period (unlike those of earlier times) had no vaults over the halls, but only wooden floors. Had vaulting been more common there would no doubt have been more examples of groined ceilings. At Delgaty Castle the only vaulted room 011 the upper floor has a groined and ribbed roof. It has been above pointed out that the re-introduction of groined vaulting was probably connected with the revival of Ecclesiastical Archi- tecture in the seventeenth century. BLAIRFINDY CASTLE, BANFFSHIRE. This castle, which was a hunting-seat of the Earls of Huntly, stands on high ground above the steep banks of the river Livet, and about seven miles southwards from the station of Ballindalloch. FIRST FLOOR Fio. 547. Blairfi tidy Castle. Plans. It is built on the L plan (Fig. 547), with the wing slightly projected, so as to command the main building on two sides. The other sides are defended with round turrets corbelled out on the