caithness-1911/05_170

Transcription

[Page] 92 -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF REAY.

342. To the E. of this stone lies another slab, measuring 5' 5" in
length by 2' 5" in breadth at the upper end, and tapering slightly to
the foot. In the centre an oval compartment contains the monogram
of Magnus Gun, while around the edge of the stone and across the
top runs the following inscription:-

HEIR LYES THE CORPS OF MAGNUS GUN ANE HONEST
MAN HUSBAND TO HELLEN TAYLOR WHO DEPARTED
THE . . . . . OF MA . . . , 1705.

On the lower part of the stone are a skull and cross-bones, spade
and shovel, and other emblems of mortality.
O.S.M., CAITH., x. Visited, 16th September 1910.

CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURE.

343. Dounreay Castle. - At the W. end of the farm buildings at
Lower Dounreay are the remains of Dounreay Castle. It is a
structure on an L plan, the main block measuring 39' 6" x 23' 8",
and the wing 14' 4" x 18' 6", with walls some 3' 6" in thickness. It
consisted of two storeys and a basement. The entrance door occupies
the usual position in the re-entering angle on the ground floor. On
the left of the doorway a square staircase under a vaulted roof leads to
a landing on the first floor, whence a newel stair in the thickness of
the wall leads upwards. The floors have all fallen. On the first
floor has been a hall and private room. There have been small cup-
boards and garde-robes in the walls, and the window recesses have
been fitted with seats. The mouldings around the fire-places consist
of a bead and hollow. The erection of this castle probably dates
from the latter half of the 16th century.
The lands of Dounreay were acquired by William Sinclair of
Dunbeath from Adam, Bishop of Orkney, in 1562 and 1564. Sir
Robert Gordon avers that the acquisition was by the Earl Of Caith-
ness, and that Sinclair, in whose custody between 1563 and 1565
the Earl had deposited his writs on his going to Flanders, suppressed
them and obtained a fresh grant in his own favour. Subsequently
Sinclair was much harassed by the Earl, who laid siege to the castle.
In 1726 it is described as "one of the Earl of Caithness's lodgeings."
It was occupied during the latter half of the 19th century, but is
now unroofed and rapidly falling into ruins.
See Macfarlane's Geog. Coll., i. p. 184; Gordon's Earldom of
Sutherland, p. 148.
O.S.M., CAITH., iv. Visited, 25th August 1910.

DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.

344. Broch, "Tulloch of Stemster" Stemster. - Some 200 yards SSE.
of the farm-house of Stemster is a grassy knoll on which are the
remains of a broch. The situation is a slight hollow at the top of a
long slope up from the left bank of the Forss water, and the broch
is, in consequence, not seen from the valley below. The sides of the
mound are steeply scarped to a height of about 8', and at the base,
on the NNW., a built face is exposed, showing that the mound has