fife-kinross-clackmannan-1933/03-302

Transcription

INVERKEITHING.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN FIFE. [INVERKEITHING.

north wall, though the seats in the embrasure
have been removed. Beside this window is a
wall press. The removal of the entresol in the
17th century allowed of a tall window with
mullion and transoms being inserted in each
gable to replace the original lights. The lower
divisions of these windows were shuttered, the
upper ones glazed. On the outside face of the
lowest transom on the west is the inscription,
I.S. M.N. 1635, for James Stewart of Rosyth
and Margaret Napier, his wife. In the south
wall is the fireplace, which was enlarged in the
17th century and has a locker in the west jamb.
A mural chamber on the same side provided
the necessary connection with the staircase.
Beside the latter, but in the thickness of the
east wall, is another chamber, from which the
service-stair, spoken of above, led to the entresol
of the ground floor. A third mural chamber,
probably a garderobe, has apparently been built
up on the north side of the east window.
Beside the west window is a doorway, now
filled in, which communicated with the first
floor of the 16th-century buildings.
The main stair formerly rose from the ground
to the top of the tower. On the way up, at
about the level of the higher of the two entresols,
there is a garderobe in the east gable, provided
with a seat and a basin with outlet. Beyond
the first floor the steps have disappeared, and
the ascent has to be continued by a ladder. On
the second floor is a solar lit from north, south
and east, the eastern window having a three-
sided rear-arch. The solar is entered through a
window embrasure, in the breast of which is a
fitted basin. At the north-west angle of the
room, near the fireplace, is a vaulted mural
chamber, which once gave access to the parapet-
walk of the original barmkin. In the north-east
angle is a garderobe. In the south wall is
another mural chamber which was entered
from the staircase, but did not communicate
with the main apartment. The ceiling of the
solar has been of timber, and the side walls bear
a heavy continuous corbel-course of a type
which has not been noticed in previous Inven-
tories, although a similar construction is found
in the Palace at Dunfermline (p. 120). Above
lay a garret, evidently a habitable room when
entire, though now roofless. The parapet-walks
have the unusual width of 7 feet.

DOVECOT. - A fine 16th-century dovecot (Fig.
53) stands on the mainland north of the castle.
It is square on plan, measuring 20 feet externally,
is built of rubble, and has gableted and crow-
stepped gables; the skew-puts are carved with
human heads. The south gable has a tabled
off-set, on the front of which is an empty panel
space. The entrance, which faces north, has a
quirked edge-roll at the arris, and on the lintel
is a label bearing an inscription now wholly
illegible. The roof is a barrel-vault covered
with flagstones.

HISTORICAL NOTE. - In 1428 the King granted
and confirmed to Sir David Stewart his barony
of Rosyth, which Stewart had resigned along
with other lands in order that the whole might
be united in one barony. ¹ Sir David is said to
have been a patron of Walter Bower, Abbot of
Inchcolm, whom he encouraged in the compila-
tion of the Scotichronicon. ² Rosyth remained
with this family till the failure of male descen-
dants towards the close of the 17th century.

1 Reg. Mag. Sig., s.a., No. 115. 2 Prefatio,
by Walter Goodall to edition of 1759, p. iii.
Cf. also Cast. and Dom. Arch., i, p. 289.

xliii N.W. 8 June 1928.

278. Rosebery House, Inverkeithing. - This
house of three storeys and a garret is a much
altered dwelling of the 16th century. It seems
originally to have consisted of an oblong main
block, facing the street, with a pend that gave
access to a courtyard behind. In the 17th
century the house was partly rebuilt, while
between 1705, when it was purchased by the
Earl of Rosebery, and 1711 a wing, described
in the latter year as "the new jamm," was
added at the back. Further alterations were
made in the 18th century. The roof is unusual,
being of a lean-to type, whence the old name of the
house was the "Toofall" (sic). Both main block
and wing are vaulted on the ground floor. The
first floor of the former has a large kitchen-
fireplace at the north-west angle and a mural
chamber at the south-east angle. A ruinous
garden-house at the end of the garden bears on
the lintel of the entrance 17 J.D.B.F.17., for
John Dundas and Beatrice Ferguson, his wife.
The Earl of Rosebery, whose name is attached
to the house, disponed it to Dundas in 1711. ¹
In the courtyard is a draw-well.

1 History of Inverkeithing and Rosyth, by

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