stirling-1963-vol-1/05_079

Transcription

INTRODUCTION : THE MIDDLE AGES AND LATER
fireplaces and a number of finely executed wooden medallions known as the "Stirling Heads",
the survivors of those which originally formed the decoration of a remarkable compartmented
ceiling in the King's Presence Chamber (cf. p. 202).
There are no visible remains in the county of any stone castle which appears to be
older than the 14th century, and it seems likely that in early mediaeval times the usual type of
fortified dwelling was the motte (cf. pp. 40 f.). At Castle Rankine (No. 217), however, although
nothing remains above ground, excavations undertaken in 1938 revealed the foundations of a
curtain wall which apparently enclosed an approximately square courtyard measuring some
90 ft. across. Outside the curtain wall there was a ditch, and the main entrance-doorway was
contained within a barbican which projected to the lip of the ditch from the centre of the
north curtain. Despite the relative thinness of the curtain walls, the plan suggests that this
castle may have been of 13th-century date. Edward I had planned to build a castle on each bank
of the Forth a little below Stirling, one at Tullibody and the other at Polmaise, and sites were
obtained for this purpose in 1304-5; ¹ but neither castle was completed, although some work at
least is known to have been carried out at Tullibody in 1306. ² It is uncertain how much
progress was made at Polmaise, but, with the possible exception of an otherwise unexplained
ditch at Lower Polmaise, ³ no visible remains of any castle exist there today.
The most important castle in the county, after Stirling, is Mugdock (No. 207), which
was built by the Grahams in the 14th and 15th centuries. The structure is by no means
complete, but the principal features of the plan, insofar as they can be traced, suggest that in
the earliest period of construction a stout curtain-wall strengthened by rectangular towers at
the angles enclosed a roughly oblong courtyard, which was entered from the south by a
portcullis gateway. Apart from the gatehouse, the towers do not project beyond the curtain
wall, a feature which is paralleled at the contemporary castle of St. Andrews, ⁴ the plan of which
somewhat resembles that of Mugdock. In the 15th century the castle was greatly extended in
size, an outer bailey being added to the north and west of the original one. Little remains of
the outer bailey today, however, apart from some fragments of the curtain wall together with a
ruinous garderobe-tower, which stands at the north extremity of the enceinte.
The typical baronial dwelling of the 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries was the tower-
house, and Stirlingshire contains many structures of this class. Among the 15th-century
towers, Bruce's Castle (No. 196), Plean (No. 197) and Duntreath (No. 209) may be cited as
examples of simple rectangular keeps, while Almond Castle (No. 202) and Castle Cary
(No. 203) exemplify the L-plan in which a wing projects at right angles from the main block
of the tower. At Castle Cary, however, the wing has now disappeared. Culcreuch (No. 213),
another simple rectangular tower, dates from the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, while
the most notable of the later 16th-century tower-houses are Old Sauchie (No. 195) and
Bardowie (No. 208). Bardowie was erected in 1566; the plan presents one or two unusual
features, the most important of which is the provision of a gallery or upper hall on the top
floor. The gallery has a fine timber roof, now open, but originally ceiled with boards which

1 Cal. of Docts., ii (1272-1307), No. 1722.
2 The Commissioners are indebted for this information to Mr. Howard Colvin.
3 This ditch, which has a width of about 30 ft. and a maximum depth of 3 ft. 6 in., runs across the NE. end of the former
walled garden of Old Polmaise, beyond which it extends for a distance of some 80 yds. in a north-westerly direction.
4 Inventory of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, No. 465.

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