caithness-1911/05_033

Transcription

INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS, ETC., IN COUNTY OF CAITHNESS. -- xxxi

to be specially noticed, viz. Dunbeath (No. 187). Though of late
date, and, according to the statement of a former proprietor, dating
from 1633, it undoubtedly occupies the site of an earlier building,
a part of which it may possibly incorporate. Standing on a lofty
promontory, round whose base the ocean surges, it is the most
picturesque mansion in Caithness. With its pointed angle turrets
it shows in a marked degree the French influence, which at the
period of its erection affected the style of Scottish domestic archi-
tecture. Though defensive considerations no longer control the
plan, the details which they engendered continue to exist as purely
decorative features. The castle has been altered to some extent on
the exterior, but to no such degree as to forbid its being regarded as
an admirable example of the Scottish domestic architecture of the
first half of the 17th century.
The town houses of Caithness of date previous to 1707, that are
of any interest, are few. None in Wick fall to be noticed, and in
Thurso there are but two, both dating from the end of the 17th
century. The old town dwelling of the Murrays of Clairden (No.
425, fig. 25), at the end of Bank Street, has been an important edifice
in its time and contains an interesting carved stone mantelpiece. The
other old house, which is in Shore Street (No. 426, pl. XL.), bears
the date 1686, and has a picturesque tower carrying the stair to the
upper flats, which projects right across the pavement of the street.

BROCHS.

Though the number of brochs still remaining in the county reaches
the considerable total of 145, their condition is such that a mere
superficial examination adds but little to our existing knowledge.
The native stone of which they have been built in most districts is
the Caithness shale, which, after long exposure to the elements, has
become disintegrated and resolved into a soil that now maintains a
luxuriant sward effectively concealing the details of the structure
beneath. Thus by far the greater number are only distinguishable
as grass-covered hillocks, or slight elevations in the cultivated land.
In the latter instances, numerous fragments of shaley stone scattered
over the surface occasionally afford an indication of the character of
the remains beneath and lead to their identification.
But, though so little fresh knowledge is to be gleaned from super-
ficial observation, many opportunities for enlightenment as to their
constructive details have been afforded by excavations. Thanks
mainly to the enterprise of the late Sir Francis Tress Barry, twenty-
four of these ruins have been more or less completely cleared out, a
larger number than in any other county, and the most important of
the valuable relics which they have yielded are preserved in the
National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh.
From very few of the unexcavated examples are measurable
details of their structure procurable. There are, however, certain
features connected with the sites they occupy worthy of notice.
In the plain, which stretches over the greater part of the county,
there were not available commanding situations such as existed, and
were so largely taken advantage of, throughout the neighbouring
county of Sutherland, and means had consequently to be adopted to