DRUM CASTLE & GARDENS The oldest intact building in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, Drum Castle was, from 1323 to 1975, the home of the Irvine Family. Situated in the world famous Castle Country of Northeast Scotland and standing at the gates to Royal Deeside on a ridge over looking the River Dee 10 miles from the heart of the Granite City, Aberdeen How to contact us Phone (+44)1330 811204 Fax: (+44)1330 811962 e-mail drum@nts.org.uk The Drum Castle Estate At one time the lands held by the Irvines of Drum stretched all the way from Aberdeenshire to the Tay. Nowadays the Estate at Drum in the care of the National Trust for Scotland consists of a little over 400 acres. This is made up of: The Old Wood of Drum Home Farm The Gardens and Lawns Conifer Plantations The Old Wood of Drum Oak woods once covered much of Lower Deeside. Little remains and the Old Wood of Drum is one of the few surviving examples. Oak from Drum is thought to have been used in the roof of Aberdeen’s St Machar’s Cathedral built in 1435 and in the construction of the Bon Accord in 1606, the first large ship to be built in Aberdeen. The wood is now designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The wood is home to a variety of wildlife. As you follow the way-marked trail through the oaks, scots pine and birch you may see red squirrels or catch a glimpse of the secretive roe deer or come across evidence of foraging badgers. Woodpeckers nest in the wood and in winter one of Scotland’s most important rookeries attracts thousands of rooks each evening a dusk. In summer pipistrelle bats can be seen doing their part in keeping the midges under control. The Home Farm The earliest maps of Drum dated 1590 show only an enclosed park – but by 1750 the maps show a field layout that can still be seen today. The farmland at Drum Castle is part of the Home Farm. For many years it was farmed ‘in hand’ i.e. directly by the Irvines in the castle, but since the early 1960’s has been in the hands of the Duncan family. The way the land is farmed blends tradition and the economic climate. These days sheep are no longer reared on the estate – although they might be seen in the winter months as fields are let. In the summer, between May and October, visitors will see cattle being fattened for beef. The cattle are brought inside in November and fed on barley grown on the farm and harvested in August or September. Remember as you use the trails and paths that farming represents a livelihood so please ensure your dogs are kept under control and avoid straying into the fields – even if you see that gates have been left open. The Conifer Plantations Conifer plantations have a bad name amongst both residents and visitors to the countryside. They are seen as impregnable and boring, supporting little in the way of wildlife and ruining the open countryside. But they can also be a source of revenue to the estate and do provide a habitat for roe deer, rabbits, wrens, gold crests and buzzards. At the moment timber prices are low so there is little point in harvesting the spruce and pine plantations. On the other hand, we have just felled a compartment of Douglas Fir and this will be regenerated with broadleaf trees such as oak and with natives trees such as scots pine A Brief History of Drum Castle Drum Castle has been lived in continuously from at least 1323 to the present day. For over 650 of those years it was occupied by the Irvine family and it is their name which is synonymous with Drum. Click on the buttons below to read more about the fascinating story of Drum Castle and its unique position in the history of Aberdeenshire The Early Years Drum Castle has been lived in continuously from at least 1323 to the present day. For over 650 of those years it was occupied by the Irvine family and it is their name that is synonymous with the Castle King Robert the Bruce In 1323, King Robert the Bruce gave the Tower of Drum to William de Irwyn. For many years it was thought that William had been the Bruce's secretary and armour bearer through the long struggle for independence with the English. Recent research has questioned this and the Irvine family now believe that William was an official who worked for Bernard, Abbot of Arbroath and Chancellor of Scotland. A Strategic Position William must have had the king's trust because Drum was well placed in ensuring the safety of nearby Aberdeen. The word Drum is derived from the gaelic for ridge and, indeed the castle is sited on a ridge above the River Dee 10 miles to the west of Aberdeen. The importance of the site is that here is the lowest fording point on the river above the city. Any army coming north and wanting to by pass the city - with its castle and garrison - and enter the rich agricultural lands of the Garioch and Buchan or even to attack the city from an unexpected direction would have had to cross the river at this point. The Tower of Drum was, therefore, the police station that guarded Aberdeen's backdoor. How Old? There is no documentary evidence about the age of the castle before 1323 but a number of clues in the archaeology have allowed us some insight to the possible age of the Tower. Firstly, in the High Hall of the tower is a large fire place. The corners of the fire place are chamfered with a stop some 12 inches above the floor. This style is entirely indicative of the second half of the 13th Century so it is probable that when the Tower was given to William it had already been in existence for some 30 to 40 years. Also, on the northern boundary of Aberdeen spanning the River Don, is the Brig of Balgownie. The arch of the bridge has, unusually, a point, the shape and ratios of which mirror almost exactly the shape of the roof of the High Hall in the tower. The Bridge was known to have been built by Richard Cemantarius, King's Master Mason and First Provost of Aberdeen. The similarity in shape is such that it is very unlikely that two people came up with such a similar design independently in the same area. Richard was dead by the time of the death of King Alexander III in 1286. We can assume, therefore, that the Tower itself dates from before 1286. Red Harlaw The Battle of Harlaw was fought at nearby Inverurie on 29 July 1411. At Harlaw, the citizens of Aberdeen together with the men of Angus, the Mearns, the Garioch and Buchan defeated a much larger army of Highlanders and Islanders led by Donald, Lord of the Isles. Such was the slaughter on both sides that the battle, the bloodiest in the history of Scotland, became known as Red Harlaw. Sir Alexander Irvine, third Laird of Drum was killed at Harlaw in single combat with Maclean of Duart known as Red Hector of the Battles - who Alexander also killed. On his way to Harlaw Alexander stopped at a point now called the Drumstone where it is possible to see both Harlaw and Drum. Here he had a premonition that he would die and made his younger brother, (some versions have it as his son) Robert, promise to marry his widow Elizabeth Keith - with whom he had not consummated his marriage - and so help bring about an end to the long running feud with the Keiths. This Robert did, changing his name to Alexander and causing considerable confusion for historians because there were now two 4th Lairds. The Tower One of the three oldest Towers in Scotland and the only one to remain largely intact - all that is now missing is the wooden caphouse from the roof which either collapsed or was removed early in the 19th Century. In its original stair access to the Tower was via a wooden ladder to a door at first floor level. When the castle was under siege the ladder could be pulled in and the building secured from attack. The ladder has been replaced by a stone staircase. There are four levels to the Tower, one of which we have already visited in the form of the Library At ground level - but accessed downwards from the entrance door - is the Store Room or Cellar. The walls here are some 12 feet thick and natural light comes from two narrow slits. Because the slits give no angle of view to the outside they could have served no defensive purpose and so were there principally to ventilate the chamber. The castle is built on a spring line and in the corner of the Store Room is a well - essential if the castle was under siege. In the 15th Century the Vth Laird suspected his wife of having an affair with her priest, a Sir Edward Macdowell. The Laird incarcerated the unfortunate Macdowell in the Store Room. What happened next is unclear but at his subsequent trail the Laird was found guilty of mutilating Macdowell to such an extent that he either died - or was rendered incapable of repeating that particular offence. The Laird received a Royal Pardon. Returning to the main door we are standing at what would have been the entrance to the laigh hall but was closed up with the conversion of the hall to the Library. Continuing up the newel stair there is another blocked up entrance which would have led to the upper part of the laigh hall, a wooden sleeping platform. Another turn of the newel brings us to the high hall, the space occupied by the Laird and his immediate family. This is still in its medieval state with an earth floor, unglazed windows and bare stone walls. At mid level can be seen the stone corbels that supported the wooden sleeping platform at the same level as the modern viewing platform at the eastern end. On the northern side is the fireplace that gives a clue to the age of the tower through its chamfered corners with stops. Half way up the western wall can be seen a closed-in fireplace, evidence of the now missing floor right across the chamber. Up the ladder to the viewing platform and then on a second ladder brings us out onto the battlements. A moderns roof now stands where there was once a caphouse to house the soldiery. Unusually, the parapet walk is stepped to allow better drainage and the battlements are niches to give a better line of fire to archers engaging an enemy close to the walls. In the north-west corner is a guardrobe - a toilet - which would have emptied directly into what is now the courtyard! The Middle Years A Rising Power Through the 14th 15th and 16th Centuries, the Irvines grew in importance as land owners and maintainers of stability in what where unstable times. After the Reformation Scotland entered less troubled waters and, for a while at least, it seemed that prosperity had arrived. It was during this period, early in the 17th Century, that the 9th Laird built the fine Jacobean Mansion that has come to give Drum its unique character. The building was important because it marked a turning point in the way people thought about castles. Until then the relative instability had led owners to build extra accommodation on top of their existing towers rather than adjacent to it. This resulted in what many people regard as the classic Scottish Castle - tall, narrow at the bottom and expanding outwards towards the top - a house on-top of a tower as can be seen at Crathes, Cragievar and Castle Fraser. However, because people now felt safe, the Laird of Drum added his additional accommodation at ground level - he built his new house next to - not on top of the Tower. The high point in the rise of the Irvine's came when the Xth Laird was offered the Earldom of Aberdeen. However, disaster was never far away and war broke out before the patent could be passed under the great seal. The title subsequently went to the Gordons of Haddo. The Covenanting Wars The middle of the 17th Century came to be dominated by the Covenanting Wars and, as a Royalist and Episcopalian, the Xth Laird and his two sons soon found themselves exciting the interest of the Covenanters. In 1639 and again in 1644 when the Laird was away fighting the castle was taken and occupied by the Covenanters. On the second occasion, troops under the Marquis of Argyle were billeted in the castle and plundered the place, stripping bare the contents and ravaging the estate, leaving with nothing that could not be carried. They killed the cattle and the sheep for food and found buried in the yard a chest containing silver plate, goldsmiths' work jewels, chains and rings to a value of £20,000. The castle had been held by the lairds wife, and her daughter-in-law, Lady Mary, niece of Argyle. The kinship did not stop Argyle turning the two women out of the castle and sending them into Aberdeen with nothing but two grey plaids about their heads. It is significant that there is nothing in the castle today that pre-dates this period - indeed, the oldest artefact is a Bible Box now kept in the Business Room and dated 1644, the year of the sacking.. A Shepherdess... The XIth Laird, having survived the wars, including a spell with his brother as prisoners in Edinburgh Castle during which the brother died, lived through the Restoration and then found himself a widower. Debts forced the Laird to start to sell off some of his lands, a process that would continue for many years to come. This Laird married again, this time to Margaret Coutts who, at 16 years of age, was some 47 years younger than her husband. This marriage gave birth to the famous ballad The Laird of Drum which tells the story of how, after their marriage, the Laird and his young wife were shunned by his family. The ballad finishes with the noble sentiment that after they are both dead and laid together in their grave, nobody will be able to tell the dust of his bones from the dust of hers. It may be that the resentment felt by the XIth Laird led to his changing the disposition of the estates should the male line fail. This was to have a disastrous effect 9 years later at the death of his son, the XIIth Laird. ...and a Black Night It was said that the XIIth Laird did not possess the sharpness of mind of his father. He married Marjory Forbes but had no children and, under the terms of his father's disposition, the estate would pass to Alexander Irvine of Murthill, a less than savoury person with considerable debts for which the Drum inheritance must have seemed heaven sent. When in late 1695 the laird was dying, his pregnant wife called for the Privy Council to appoint a commission to examine her situation. She had accused Irvine of Murthill of attempting to occasion an abortion and she was clearly in great fear. On the 2nd of January the Laird was close to death and Murthill took possession of the castle and confined Marjory Forbes to the Cross Chamber. The next morning the Laird was dead - but not before he had heard the screams of his wife in premature labour. No child survived the night and Alexander Irvine of Murthill became the XIIIth Laird of Drum. The Later Years Jacobites Scotland had little in respite in the 18th Century and the Lairds of Drum played their parts in the great upheavals of the first part of the century. In 1715 the Old Pretender's Standard was raised on the Braes of Mar and the XIVth Laird answered the call. He fought at Sheriffmuir where the right wings of both armies won the day causing a stalemate. The Laird received a severe head-wound and died 20 years later on the Continent, insane. The Jacobite torch now passed to the XVIIth Laird who joined Lord Pitsligo in the rising of 1745 supporting Bonny Prince Charlie. After the disaster of Culloden the Laird, now a wanted man, returned to Drum where he went into hiding aided by his sister, Miss Mary Irvine - whose portrait by Raeburn hangs in the Drawing Room. In this they were helped by the presence of a Secret Room in the castle. Really a space behind a false wall within an internal room the Secret Room could only be accessed through the floor of an ante chamber to Miss Irvines apartments. The XVIIth Laird was luckier than most of the survivors of the '45 for he was tried in absentia and acquitted on a technicality. It would appear that the citation referred to him as Alexander Irvine of Drum - but the witnesses could only recognise him as The Laird of Drum and so he resumed his life at Drum, marrying in 1751. His portrait can be found in the Dining Room. Consolidation The XVIIIth Laird succeeded to the Barony in 1761 at the age of 6. He was to remain Laird for the next 87 years and was very much responsible for much of the way Drum looks today. It was during his lairdship that the area surrounding the castle changed to a designed landscape - a castle set in parkland - and the Jacobean Mansion received the Palladian proportion fenestration which gives it such a light and airy interior. The XVIIIth Laird also built the Walled Garden. His younger son, Hugh, was an artist and contemporary of Byron - indeed, there is a portrait of Hugh which hangs in the Drawing Room. that has a distinct Byronic air to it together with a picture of the Castlegate in Aberdeen, a rare contemporary account of that part of the city in the early 1800s. And to prove himself just a little mad, bad and dangerous to know, Hugh also painted - as a self portrait - the picture of the Archangel Gabriel which dominates the Library. The XXth Laird was a prominent lawyer who was, for many years the Sheriff of Argyle and the leading authority on Scottish Game Law. He married Anna Forbes Leslie, an accomplished water colourist, many of whose works still hang in the castle, and together they set about the final set of changes that were to turn Drum into what it is today. Just as in the early 17th Century, the Country was now relatively wealthy and this is reflected in the last major rebuilding of Drum when, in the early 1870's the Irvines engaged the eminent Scottish Baronial architect, David Bryce. Although Bryce started the design and may have put work in hand, he died in 1876 and the work was taken on by his nephew, John. This last round of alteration involved adding rooms onto the north side of the house including a new entrance hall, a gallery on the main floor to allow circulation within the house, a new staircase to the bed room floor and new service rooms for the bedrooms. The main difference to be noticed by the visitor would have been the removal of the front door from the south facing facade of the Jacobean Mansion to the Courtyard on the opposite side - including a completely new approach from the east. The other major change at this time was in the Drawing Room. where the oak panelled ceiling and oak linen-fold carved doors gave the room a distinctly Victorian feel. Pride of place, however, goes to the fireplace, a wedding present to the XXIst Laird and his bride, Mary Ramsay. With the XXIst Laird - Francis Hugh Forbes Irvine - a long tradition was broken: he was the first since 1410 not to be called Alexander. Francis was, in fact, the third son of the XXth Laird, the elder son being called Alexander, but the latter died at the age of 6 and it was as a memorial to him that the Chapel was refurbished and put into the state in which we see it today and the second son, also called Alexander, who died at the age of 24, before succeeding to the barony. The National Trust for Scotland In the 1960s the XXIVth Laird, Henry Quentin Irvine, made the decision that Drum Castle should pass into the care of The National Trust for Scotland. This was at a time when death duties were having a devastating effect on estates such as Drum. At the same time, traditional sources of income to the estate such as rents and agriculture had diminished to such a point that it the castle had become a burden rather than an asset. The decision was not universally popular within the family. Nevertheless, it having been decided, the Trust took Drum into its care following Quentin's death in 1975. The current Laird of Drum, David Irvine, XXVIth, now lives near Banchory just a few miles from the castle and he and his family are frequent visitors to the property and ardent supporters of The National Trust for Scotland. The Business Room One of the most popular rooms amongst our visitors, possibly because it has an intimate feel that reflects the kind of space we ourselves would like to live in . The wing back chair in the corner is one of the few pieces of 17th Century furniture to remain in the family, the Covenanters having ransacked the building in 1644 whilst under the opposite window is the Bible Box, dated 1644, the only relic to remain of the troublesome times. Over the fireplace hangs a picture of the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stewart, Bonny Prince Charlie, a mark of the family's adherence to the Jacobite cause. In the corner is a heavy iron door that leads through to the Muniments Room where still are housed the family papers dating back to 1323 and the original charter from Robert the Bruce granting Drum and its lands to William de Irwyn. The Drawing Room When it was built in 1619 this room was the Jacobean high hall. Later, the XVIIIth Laird was to turn it into the Dining Room and, finally, under the hand of Anna Forbes Irvine, it became the Drawing Room in late 1800s. In a small cupboard, behind a concealed door, under one of the south widows is evidence of the room's days as a dining hall - a chamber pot, there so as not to inconvenience male guests. To the right of the door through to the Dining Room hangs a picture by Hugh Irvine, son of the XVIIIth Laird, of Aberdeen's Castlegate, a rare look at that part of Aberdeen at the beginning of the 19th Century. To the left of the fireplace hangs a Raeburn of Miss Mary Irvine who hid her brother, the XVIIth Laird after Culloden, whilst above the fireplace hangs a wedding picture of Anna Forbes Irvine, wife of the XXth Laird, the Sheriff of Argyle. Off the Drawing Room, in the West Tower is the Irvine Room, a collection bringing together the lives of the Irvines from the XXth Laird through to the present day: the Irvine Room is sponsored by Grampian Television and the Clan Irwin Association of America. At the entrance to the room hangs a portrait of Hugh Quentin Irvine who bequeathed Drum to the Trust. The Dining Room The changes in the Dining Room have mirrored those in the Drawing Room having originally been a Dining Hall, then becoming the Great Hall and then, under the Victorians reverting to the room we see today. The door onto the South Lawn was installed by the XVIIIth Laird and was until the 1870s the main entrance to the Castle, there being a partition across the end of the Dining Room to form a lobby. The pictures are mostly family members; of interest is the portrait of the XVIIth Laird opposite the door to the South Lawn. It is difficult to visualise this rather rotund gentleman in his buff coat and wig standing in the line at Culloden preparing to receive Cumberland's advance. By the door is a large Dutch colonial chest dating from the 17th Century. Made of oriental hardwood and probably manufactured in the Dutch East Indies, the chest might originally have been used to transport porcelain back to Europe. Embellished with intricate brass-work and huge brass handles, the chest was a present form the Burnetts of Crathes, near neighbours and long time rivals to the Irvines of Drum. The Library For many the Library is their favourite room in the Castle. Situated in the original 13th Century Tower, converted by the Victorians as an extension of the Jacobean Mansion, the Library brings together the three ages of Drum Castle. This was the former Laigh (Low) Hall in which the ordinary people lived in medieval times. The walls at this level are 9 feet thick - as can be seen in the alcove at the end of the room. There are a little over 4000 books here, the oldest dating from 1548. Opposite the window and above the fireplace hangs Hugh Irvine's self portrait of the Archangel Gabriel. On the ceiling are badges of many of the families the Irvines were connected to by marriage. On the north side, the badges are of those families whose daughters married into the Irvines whilst, on the south side, are those families to whom Irvine daughters married into. As daughters carried dowries this can also be seen to represent the movement of capital into and out of the family. It was perhaps no coincidence that those on the north represent generally wealthier families than those on the south! The Chapel One of Drum's most charming features is the c16th Century chapel that stands just a few yards to the south-west of the Jacobean Mansion. Enclosed in a grove of holly and yew and letting out onto the South Lawn, the chapel was last renovated by the XXth Laird and Anna Forbes Irvine in memory of their eldest son, Alexander, who died in 1856 at the age of 6. The font is a copy of that in Winchester Cathedral - some of the family were former Wykehamists - whilst the altar is of sandstone and the stained glass window by Hardman of Birmingham. Adjacent to the altar is the Augsburg silver Madonna, installed by the family in 1897. The carved stone canopy in the centre of the south wall came form the tomb of the Second IVth Laird at St Nicholas' in Aberdeen. Although dating from the 15th Century it was removed from St Nicholas' after a fire in 1875. From there it was recovered by Anna Forbes Irvine who had it transported to Drum, eventually to be installed in the chapel. The Nursery The newest addition to the rooms on display in the castle. These display rooms were in the early part of the 20th Century the Irvine Children's nanny's bedrooms , the actual nurseries then having been on the floor below. The two rooms make up a day nursery and a night nursery and much of what is on display came from the Irvine family. On the table is an album depicting the early lives of the last generation of Irvines to live in the castle as a family home, the children of the XXIInd Laird. Three of the five brothers went onto be Lairds in their own right - the XXIIIrd, XXIVth and XXVth. Castle Summary Almost every view of Drum gives a different castle - four for the price of one. Because of its distinct development - a medieval tower, a Jacobean mansion and the exuberance of the Victorians the character of Drum changes as you move around the outside. The castle is many things to many people - architecture, history, furniture, entertainment. This section of the site deals with the building. Follow the links to learn more about the castle itself. Architecture Drum is different from most of the castles of the north-east of Scotland. Although they probably all started as Tower's, most changed in the 16th Century when they were developed upwards - the houses were built on top of the tower - but at Drum the new house was built alongside the existing tower The Tower iThe rubble built tower built, we believe, before 1286, stands above the silver ribbon of the River Dee, giving its name to Royal Deeside. Built to protect the city of Aberdeen from being bypassed and attacked from the rear, the tower stood in the royal hunting forest of lower Deeside, the last remnants of which can still be found in the Old Wood of Drum. The result is a stark squat building, a little over 70 feet high with a door at first floor level. There are four levels in the Tower: The Cellar Built for storage rather than as a dungeon, it also contains the essential for any castle, the well to provide fresh water if ever the castle was under siege. There is a closed in hatch through to the Laigh Hall above so that large items could be taken in without having to negotiate the extremely narrow stairway. The walls here are 12 feet thick. The Laigh Hall This is where the ordinary people of the castle would have lived. Converted to the Library in 1874, the original Laigh Hall (or Low Hall) would have had an earth floor, bare stone walls and narrow windows - very much like the High Hall above is today. The space would have been divided into two by a sleeping platform turning the top half into bedrooms and the bottom half into the day-time quarters - rather like an ordinary two story house almost anywhere in the world today. Standing inside the Library it is almost impossible to imagine the original interior - for that we need to look at the High Hall. The High Hall Of similar size and dimensions as the Laigh Hall, the High Hall was where the laird and his family lived. The room is still very much in its medieval state with the large vaulted roof so reminiscent of the Brig o' Balgownie in Aberdeen. The newel stair is contained entirely inside the thick walls of the south-east corner and has an enigmatic twist - literally - because it continues for another quarter turn and then stops: did it once continue to the battlements or was it intended to carry on and was never finished? We don't know. Down the sides of the hall are the corbels that once supported the sleeping platform. Some of them have been brought back into use to support the modern day platform that now forms the access the Battlements The Battlements Originally the home of the soldiery, the cap house which would have been there accommodation and such a distinctive feature of the Tower disappeared somewhere in the early 19th Century and has now been replaced by a flat slate and copper roof. The walk ways are tiered to aid drainage and there are platforms all the way around the crenellations to ensure that a soldier could get a good aim even at an enemy at the very base of the building. In the north-west corner is a garderobe - a toilet - which emptied straight into the courtyard below. The Jacobean Mansion The 17th Century saw prosperity in the brief period between the Reformation and the Covenanting Wars. During this period the Irvines of Drum took the bold decision to expand their tower. But rather than follow convention they felt secure enough to build on to the tower at ground level. Unlike Crathes, Castle Fraser or Cragievar which had grown vertically in the uncertain times of the previous century, Drum saw a mansion house added onto the original tower. This marked a transition point in the development of grand houses - a move away from the architecture of defence, of the functional necessity of high walls and little light, from the inconvenience of newel stairs and earth floors to large house with easy access, lots of light and more privacy The Victorians The History of Drum reflects the economic development of Scotland. When times were stable and the economy strong, building took place, when there was war or the country was in straits, there was little in the way of development. In the 19th Century Britain was at its industrial and economic height. In this period the Irvines under the hands of Alexander Irvine, 20th of Drum, and his wife, Anna Forbes Irvine (pictured), set about a series of changes that turned the house into what it is today. A start had already been made by the 19th Laird who converted the Laigh Hall of the Tower into the Library. But the 20th Laird and his wife took on a major remodelling. For this they engaged the well known Scots Baronial Architect, David Bryce. Although Bryce made a start on the designs he died in 1876 and the work was taken on by his nephew, John Bryce. The essence of the work was to add extra space to the north side of the house by the insertion of a gallery running the length of the house, now called the Victorian Gallery. With it came a grand new staircase to the first floor. In parallel, the main entrance was moved from the south to the north and the Drawing Room and Dining Room were extensively altered to what we see today. It was the final flourish of Victorian confidence for within 40 years the Great War would sweep away all that the Victorians had stood for leaving only the exuberance of their baronial architecture Castle Definitions and Stuff Castle Types (courtesy of the NTS) bastle house - Small tower house with a living room over a byre broch - A round tower-like structure, open in the middle, the double wall of dry-stone masonry being linked by slabs to form internal galleries at varying levels. Found in the north and west Scotland, most probably dating from the 1st century AD although some were in use until the 17th century. burgh - A town with trading privileges. Royal burghes had a monopoly of imports and exports till the 16th century. Burghs of Barony were founded by barons to whom local trade dues were paid. castle - A fortified house or stronghold, residence of a nobleman. courtyard castle - Usually a castle of some size and importance built around a central courtyard, normally with a tower or keep, gatehouse and ranges of building such as a kitchen, backhouse, stable and chapel. Dun, Dum - An Iron Age fortified enclosure, built of dry-stone, often with galleried walls, dating from the 1st century although some were occupied until the 16th century. Can be similar to brochs but not always round in plan. E-plan tower house - Tower house with a main block and at least two wings at right angles, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. hall house - Defensible two storey building containing a hall above a basement hill fort - Fortified site often on summit of a hill or coastal promontory, usually with series of ditches and ramparts, many with stone walls. Although most of these settlements were small, others were large towns. Dates from Iron Age. Many later castles were built within these fortifications. house - A castle, tower or fortalice, especially where these have been extended or modified; also mansion. keep - Strong stone tower. A citadel or ultimate strong point, normally with a vaulted basement, hall and additional storeys. Often with very thick walls, a flush parapet , and mural chambers. Dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. Originally called a donjon. L-plan tower house - Distinctive Scottish form of the tower house in which a wing was added at right angles to the main tower block, thereby affording greater protection by covering fire and providing more accommodations. Dates between 1540-1680. motte and bailey - A defence system, Roman in origin, consisting of an earth motte (mound) carrying a wooden tower with a bailey (open court) with an enclosing ditch palisade palace - An old Scottish term for a two storey hall block peel, pele - Originally a palisaded court, later a stone tower house Royal castle - A castle held by a keeper or constable for the monarch steading - A group of farm buildings tower house - Self contained house with the main rooms spaced vertically usually with a hall over a vaulted basement with further storeys above. Normally in a small courtyard, or barmkin. Dating from 1540 to 1680 T-plan - House or tower where the main (long) block has a wing or tower (usually for the stair) in the centre of one front walled enclosure - A simple castle, normally where a wall encloses a rock or island with a wooden hall and buildings. Dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. Z-plan - Distinctive Scottish form of the tower house whereby two corner towers were added to the main tower block at diagonally opposite corners, thereby affording greater protection by covering fire and providing more accommodations. Dates from the 16th and 17th centuries.