V.

TWO DONSIDE CASTLES. By W. DOUGLAS SIMPSON, M.A., D.LiTT., F.S.A.ScOT. Read February 1942.28,

The valley of the Don above Alford has long been famous for its chain of ancient castles. Unfortunatel ruinea n i yd dmosan w f thesno o te ear neglected state; and with the economic stress that the changing circum- stances of our time, and above all the present war, impose upon their owners, it is to be anticipated that these picturesque and often historic buildings are doomed inevitably to slow disintegration and final dis- appearance purpose th s i thif et o I s .pape placo rt recorn eo d descriptions of two of these Upper Donside castles. Both of them are buildings of much architectural merit, neither has been fully described before, and both are fast hastening to utter decay.

TERPERSIE CASTLE. Terpersie r Dalpersieo , , Castlee paristh f Tullynesslen o i h, , stands,, fee5 heigha t68 t a abovf o t e sea-level, nea e heaa romanti th rf o d c glen hidden away in the heart of the Correen Hills, about three and a half miles west-north-wes parise moute th glee Alfordf th o e t th ht nar f hA churco . h hamled an Tullynesslef o t , wher ecart-roaa d leave turnpikee sth bd yan , this the ruin may be reached in a fifteen minutes' walk. On every side 1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., Ixviii. p. 150. 94 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1941-42. it is enclosed by wooded or heath-clad summits; and the building itself is hemmed in by trees and the offices of a farm, so that the visitor is almost catchee h e upoer s t s ni gresighit f yo t walls and roofless, crow-stepped gables. Despit s unpretentiouit e s appearance, and notwithstanding the lamentable ruin s thabefalle n ha receni t t i nt years e buildinth ,f considerablo s i g e architectural - importancein s it d an , terest in this respect is enhanced by its historical associations. It appears to be the earliest dated example of the characteristic Scottish "three-stepped" or Z-type of castle, which is specially commo e regionth n i ns e nortth f o h s alsi Mounthe exampl t oth i d n an ei ; which the peculiar features of this type of building were first recognised—by the Englishman Billings devoteo t i wh , o t s the only plan given in his well-known e Baronialworth n Ecclesiasticald ko an Antiquities of Scotland. The castle (see measured drawings, figs. 1—3) consists of a rectangular main building, 28 feet by 18 feet, having a round tower, 17 feet in diameter, at FIRST FLOOR. each of two diagonally opposite corners, TERPERSIE north-east and south-west.1 It was three storeys high, containing on each floor a single large apartment in the main building, and a smaller chamber in each of the towers. Contrary to the usual practice, the basement of the main building has not been vaulted: the hall floor which forms its ceiling rested on a scarcement with joist holes. This base- ment room formed a store, lit by four narrow loophole d enteree an th s n o d eas t a doorsid y b e, low, lintelledd an , SECOND FLOOR. provided with the usual double rebate Pig . Terpersi1 . e Castle: Plans. for an outer wooden door and an inner

1 I have assumea lor convenience that the long axis of the building lies north and south. The true orientatio showplans e ni th n .no TWO DONSIDE CASTLES. 95

iron "yett. lattee s secure Th a drawbar"wa r y b d t thiA s. levele th , round towers each contain a vaulted cellar, circular on ground plan but developed above int orudela y formed heptagon onle Th y . light afforded to these cellars reaches them through three gunloops provided in the walls of each arranged o enfiladt an ,s a e mai o th es d n buildin o t s welg a s a l command the field. At this level, the walls are 3 feet thick.

NORTH ELEVATION EAST ELEVATION IO 2.0 Ft TERPERSIE

SECTIO A A- N NO WEST ELEVATION Pig . Terpersi2 . e Castle: Sectio elevationsd nan .

notabls i t I epresene thath n ti t castl dooe eaccesth basemenf e ro th o st t is not placed in a re-entrant angle, as is usually the case in buildings of this class. Immediately abov e entrancth e s anothei e r door, also lintelled, giving access to the hall on the first floor. This had a large fireplace in the east wall. In each of the west, north, and eastern walls there is a window, soute th hn i waldooa d s an i l r giving acces straigha o t s t stair ascending fro basemente mth . This stai fee 2 inche1 s 1 tri sroos wideit fd ascendan , s in section scoupla correspondiny b loopholesf eo t li s stepse i th t I ,o g.t e stair-heade otheth th t e bas a d rinterna n th onan eA t a .e l opening, opposit lowee eth r loophole, supplies borrowe dbasemene lighth e o t th f o t main house e uppeTh .r loophol a shallo s ha e w sink, wit ha projectin g stone spout, fitted into its sole. Near its head the stair has been blocked 96 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1941-42.

by a cross-wall. Subsequently, the hall was divided by a partition, and a small fireplace of rough workmanship was inserted in its north gable. On this level, the rooms in the two towers are hexagonal on plan, and eac provides hi d wit hfireplaca garderobea d an esouth-wese Th . t tower a singlroo s mha e gunloopso windotw d wan , whil e north-easeth t tower room has two windows and an aumbry, giblet-checked for a shutter and neatly fitted wit ha ston e shelf. This room wilo doubn l t have been the laird's chamber. On either side of the north-east win- dow are two carefully built shafts, carried horizontally through the walendind an l g outsid smaln ei l holes, now blocked but still visible externally in the dressed SOUTH ELEVATION SECTION ON c-c stone eithen so wine r th sid -f eo o 10 io • ft. dow. These openings are too narrow for firearms, and it is TERPERSIE difficul imagino t t e what purpose they can have served, unless perhaps for ventilation. Fro e passagmth e into the south-west tower room a newel stair, in a corbelled turret set in re-entrane th t angle betweee nth tower and the south gable of the main building, ascends to the SECTION ON B-B SECTION OW D-D. upper storey. This stair is 2 feet 6 inches in width. The upper Pig. 3. Terpersie Castle: Elevation and sections. floor is arranged in the same e mais detailwath it ns e s planfulle ya a t th fort floor ar s se d yn , o han , the furthey be nee dnot r described. The masonry of the castle (see PI. XXVI, 2) is rubble work of the kind prevalen norte th hn i t country durin sixteente gth h century, consistinf go surface gathered boulders more or less horizontally bedded, with a very free use of small packing material. Roughly dressed stones are used for the quoins. The outer walls had their pinnings "buttered over" with mortar, leavin largee gth r stones exposedinnee th rd wallan , s were plastered dan white-washed. The main building was finished with crow-stepped gables having curved spur chimneye stonesth d an , s hav moulded eha d copesn O . the north chimney of the main house the cope has a double hollow-chamfer, with filleted upper edges, all very sweetly profiled. Red sandstone is em- ployed for lintels and jambstones, gunloops, the newel stair, and the corbel-

TWO DONSIDE CASTLES. 97

ling of its turret, and the contrast between this warmly tinted material and the grey granitic and schistose boulders of the walling adds to the piquancy of the building. For rougher lintels, the local andalusite mica-schist, which break easilo s y into flat slabs jambe e loophole th th useds i ,f d o s an , n i s the basement of the main building are each made of a single stone of this material, set on end. The windows and doors are wrought with a heavy chamfer, ranging froe m4 th inches l 2-o t |Al . windows were barred, and are grooved for glass—in the larger windows on the upper half only, the lower part having been shuttered. Over the lintels of the princi- pal windows are rough relieving arches. The gunloop e plaiar s n circular openings, varying between 4j inches and 6 inches in diameter, with a large internal splay: a singl n i theee eac t ar ystonecu h . Beneath the lower staircase loop in the south gable there -was formerl seee b no yt a panel (fig. 4), carved in imitation of a label affixed with screw nails d disan ,- playing vern i , y comely figures e datth , e 1561. Above the loophole was the boar's head of the Gordons. Owing to the pro- gressive disintegratio buildinge th f no , this loophole wit carvee hth d detai takes wa l n t somou e years ago, and orden i , preo t r - serve it, has been built into an internal wall at Knockespock House, where it forms a charming niche. On the lowest corbe!,!/..l or th, e stai, • r turret, , , adjoininj- • • g xithi.s _ loophole, is the letter G., for Gordon (PI. 8->£o.ol fA., L+ '/Q ". XXVI . Abov1) , e this lowest member, Cfxca-irwt 3 " r the corbel table consists of three filleted ' courses. Ale decorativth l e e detaiFth i« -f 4o l' Loop^)le from Terpersie Castle now at castl,,e i.s very carefullon,y d though, an t -, ou t, j -, Knockespock House. executed, and the little building has been one of much architectural distinction. Later lona , g win ease addes th goriginae twa n siddth o f eo l building, containing a kitchen in the basement and two storeys above, with a new oute internan r a doo d ran l newel staircase. This buildin demolishedw no gs i , plans it givee t s ar MacGibbo bu y nb Ross.d nan Thiwinw sgne provided

1 Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 205-8. 1 VOL. LXXVI. 7 98 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1941-42.

a dining-room on the first floor; and it was doubtless then that the old hall was subdivided and the old stair blocked. Although owing to its ruinous conditio positivo n e indications remain s probabli t i , e thae th t door leading into the old hall on the first floor was made when the new wing was added, and that this now became the principal means of access, via the new stair, to the living rooms in the original building. Accordin Balbithae th o gt n Manuscript, castle surroundes th 1 ewa y db a moat, of which no trace now exists. It will have been fed by the Bsset Burn, which flows past to the west. For all its seclusion, Terpersie is not unconnected with incident. William Gordon, the first laird, was a cadet of Lesmoir, and acquired the

lands in 1556 from the Bishop of Aberdeen. He appear2 s to have borne his part in the troubles of his day, fighting at the battle of Corrichie (1562), alsd t thosan oa Tillyanguf eo e Craibstonth d san e (Aberdeen 1571n i ) s a , e battlth f Brechit eo a wele nex s th a lt n ni year n 156I buile . 1h e th t 'castle, as recorded on its walls. In 1645, Terpersie Castle was burnt by the Covenanting army under .General Baillie—not during the campaign of Alford s usualli s a , y stated encampey t whilla bu ,e h e d "betuixe th t kirki f thaf o Coul o sd Tarlan y t an lyear. Ma e e mark th n Th i "f 3 o s conflagratio stily e tracedb lma n , particularl e south-westh n yo t tower, manfreestone d th an f yo e dressing badle sar y splintered with fire. George Gordon, the fifth laird, was concerned in the murder, under barbarous circumstances f Alexandeo , r Clerihew, tenan f Dubstono t a propert, y belongin Loro gt d Forbes, acros e Esseth s t Water from Terpersie. This shocking affair took place in November 1707, and although an indictment of Gordon and his two sons is preserved among the papers at Castle Forbes,

no action seems to have been taken against the perpetrators. The las4 t laird, Charles sono , tw sbein e involvee eldeth gth f o r thin di s outrage, took part in the rising of 1745, and returning in disguise to his home after Culloden unwittingls wa , s bairns hi calleo yf t o betrayewh ,d ou e on y db "Daddy" in the presence of redcoats ransacking the house. A recess where he hid himself during the search, under the roof of the south-west tower, was long pointed out. The iinfortunate father was duly hanged at Carlisle (15th November 1746): the eldest boy, a lad of sixteen, who had been "out" with his father, was banished to Jamaica, where the scion of so many proud lairds becam a emahogan y cutter s -wifd otheHi an e. r children were turned out of doors; the estate was forfeited, and, like so

many others, was bought up by the York Buildings Company. Terpersie's House1 of Gordon (New Spalding Club), vol. i. p. 46. 2 For the Gordons of Terpersie, see op. Kit., vol. ii, pp. 327—72. John Spalding, Memorialls Trubles, e oth f . 472volp . .ii .

3 4 Printed by A. and H. Tayler, Cess Boll of Aberdeenshire, 1715 (Third Spalding Club), pp. 120-2. Clerihee Th w family wer lonf eo g standin Tullynesslegn i parise th n hI .graveyar monumene th s di f o t Alexander Clerihew, farmer in Mlddleward, Tullynessle, who died 1st May 1848, aged 67 years. TWO DONSIDE CASTLES. 99

last wifes lettehi ,o t rwritte e nighnth t befor diede h e notabls i ,s it r efo simple dignit pathos.d yan 1 Eventually the Terpersie estate became the property of the Gordons of Knockespock whosn i , e hand t remainssi . The' castle itselinhabites wa f d as a farmhouse so recently as 1885. Its destruction since that period is e mosth f to deplorable on e case f vandaliso s d wantoman n neglecn i t win demolisheScotlands w gne wa whole e th Th f e.provido o d t e materials fo byrea re origina e roofth th ,f o s l portion, having become unsafe, were taken down, and now there remains but an empty and mutilated shell, fast crumbling down into utter decay—overgrown with rank weeds and shrubs d chokean , d with fallen stones, rubbis d filthan h . Fortunately, good pictorial record se buildin existh f o t gs stil whilwa l intactt ei d an , enable us to understand what a charming and distinctive little piece of old Scottish architectur s beeeha n heartlessly sacrificed. e originath n I 2l structure, the main building had a high-pitched roof with dormers, and the towers were capped with conical helmets surmounted by ball-finials. The f plaineannexo s a roun rwa ed designdha t archebu , d door, with bowtell moulding, dormer windows, flat skews, and a moulded chimney cope. The measured drawings submitted herewit preparee har d fro mpencia l survey made about 1912 by the late Mr George A. C. Moir, architect, Aber- deen. They are of value because the ruins have greatly deteriorated since survee indebteth made s m Mois a placinr y wa I Mr fo r . originae o dt gth l drawings at my disposal. The photographs on PI. XXVI were taken Dy b r John Craig, F.S.A.Scot., Aberdeen sketce Th .h reproduce figs da 4 . is made from a photograph by Mr A. W. Ross, Schoolhouse, Clatt, who also kindly too measuremente kth loopholee th f so .

TOWIE CASTLE. The churc castld han Towif eo e occup ystrikina g positio e cresth n tno of an old terrace of the River Don, which forms a steep grassy slope, about 20 feet in height, overlooking the fertile haugh through which the

river now winds, in graceful loops, eastwards towards Sinnahard and 1 The Lyon in Mourning (Scot. Hist. Soc.), vol. i, pp. 252-3. See the beautiful water-colour by James Giles, U.S.A., dated 1840, published by the Third Spalding Clu2b (Aberdeenshire Castles, plate bcvi) lithograpthe : h AndreiSir n w Leith Hay's Castlesof Aberdeenshire, 1865, p. 23 (for the date of this work see Aberdeen University Review, vol. xxiii, p. 204, note 5): the drawings of Billings (1845-50) and MacGibbon and Boss (1887) already referred to: a sketch by William Leiper, U.S.A., done about 1884, in Captain Douglas Wimberley's Notes on the Family of Gordon of Terpersie, 1900: the sketch by W. Taylor in the second (1887) edition of Leith Hay's book, p. 142: and a fine photograph, dated 1870, in the House of Gordon, vol. ii. frontispiece. The illustration reproduced herewith, PI. XXVIII, is taken, by courtesy of Aberdeen Journals Ltd., from Picturesque Donside. The photograph from which it was made was taken by Robert Brown, Inverurie, about 1885. 100 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1941-42.

Drumallachie. The castle stands at the extreme lower point of this terrace e grounth , d falling rapidly froe building—o e basth m th f eo e nth north side e eassouth-easd towardth an t n o e river th sd tan , sides, more gently, into -wida e hollow through which descend smala s l tributarye th , Water of Towie. Behind the castle stand the church and churchyard, with e manseth , manse steading, schoo d schoolhousan l d newan e d ,th ol e parochia fare l th Mainf hallm o d Towief an , so whole th ; e grou buildingf po s formin nucleue gparishth e th togethef d so an , r almost achievin dignite gth y oa villagef . Westward e sit s th definee,i a dee y pb d transverse hollow, or miniature ravine. Hence the position is both a commanding one and also one difficult of access. Withal it is a spot of great beauty. The tall

TOWIE CASTLE ABEROEENSHIRE Ft.

Fig. 5. Towie Castle: Plans. turreted tower of the old castle, and the plain yet dignified church, sur- rounde the-headstoney db table-stoned an s f thoso s e whose wor s doneki , are embosome venerabln di turnpike th es a trees d e roaan : Strathdop du n lies a -mile away on the opposite side of the river, the ancient baronial centre is vested in an atmosphere of old-world peace that is ill to come bthesn yi e bustlin fretfud gan l times. As originally built r designedo , , Towie Castle (see plans, figconsiste) 5 . d oblonon fa g main building, measuring abou fee2 inche t6 feet6 t5 2 ,y soveb r wall fees2 inche 8 tsouts it f so h easthicke d front th projectin en d t o t ;an , g from this front only, is attached a tower, measuring 12 feet 6 inches by 15 feet 3 inches. The basement was vaulted throughout, and contained a row of cellars in the main house, with a corridor of access along the south side, and another cellar in the tower. ' But all the main building has dis- appeared save the western end cellar and the walls adjoining the tower, which last, though ruinous, still stands fulit l o t sheight westere Th . n cellar is now in the final stages of decay. Large portions of its vault have collapsed in recent years, and the back or north wall—in which is a small window, whose dressed stones were subsequently withdrawn and the opening buil p frou t m inside with stones bedde n clay—hai d s parted company with the vault, and now leans outward at a dangerous angle.. TWO 1 DONSID10 E CASTLES.

In the corridor, a loophole survives near the re-entrant angle of the tower. wels i t lI forme Kildrummn di y freestone daylighe th d an ,t measurements are: height, 2 feet 6-g- inches; width, 3|^ inches, within a 2j inch chamfer. The towe containes rha d three full storey garreta d s basemenIt san . t is a vaulted cellar, entered from the long corridor, and lit by a loophole on either side frone , easwestth d tn an tI wal . l outsid seee pieceo ear ntw s of freestone rather roughly forme d place an dhalveo da tw f like o s eth circular gunloop, but they are not in contact with each other and there is internao n l evidenc f suceo ha gunloo p having existed. e firsTh t 1 floor . formed a private room, entered off the hall on the main floor, the joist- holes of whose ceiling remain in the northern wall of the tower. This private room is vaulted, the height to the crown of the vault being about 14 feet. In the south wall are a fireplace and a window, and in each side wall is a window. Above this was another room, now inaccessible; and from this room a turret stair in the re-entrant angle mounted to the tower garret. The masonry of the tower is typical of the late sixteenth and seven- teenth centurie norte th hn si country t consistI . uncoursef o s d rubblf eo surface gatherings—granites, felstones, quartzites and schists—with an occasional piece of freestone and one or two ice-borne boulders of the conspicuous and handsome Glenbuchat diorite. Pinnings are very freely employed as small packing material between the large stones. The quoins are formed, quite roughly f boulderso , , though cars beeha e n takeo nt select those of a shape suitable to produce a fairly accurate corner: where necessary, they have been roughly dresse thir dfo s purpose. e Froth l mal "window fireplace th d wroughe san eth t stones have been tore nth outt bu , rough relieving arches remain. At the wall head, the tower finishes frontally witboldlo htw y corbelled turrets, within which rise stala l chimney stack. These turrets hav courseo etw f continuouso s filleted corbels, above which ia label-mouldes r key-patterdo n course e quoinTh . s below mitre into e middlth e cours f corbellingeo l thiAl s. enriched wor s verki y carefully executed in granite. In the frontal angles of the turrets are small gunloops, screene y projectinb d g stones. Between them these turrets reduce th e gabl mera o et e chimney stack, whic carries hi , wit laterae dup hon l offset, to a height of some 40 feet above ground level. There is the usual pro- jecting cope. On the sides of the chimney are the raggles of the conical turret roofs. The staircase in the re-entrant angle is carried out on four courses of continuous filleted corbels, wrought in granite. As at Terpersie, outee th r castle wallth f eso have been '' buttered over'' with mortard an , internae th l walls were grounded with plaster. maie towee th Bot nth d n structurhran i vaulte eth s have been built

1 This feature is shown in Giles' drawing, reproduced herewith (PI. XXVIII), by courtesy of the Third Spaldiug Club. 102 PROCEEDINGS .OF THE SOCIETY, 1941-42.

separate fro side mth e walls. This weaknes constructionn si , together with the thinness of the walls in proportion to the height of the building, is mainly the cause of the unfortunate condition in which the ruins are found to-day—in spite of the excellence of the mortar, the interiors of the walls having been, for the most part, grouted in run lime. Although the tower at first sight appears to be in a much sounder condition than the detached vault frons it , t wal seriousls li parloua yvaulto n i breached tw e s sar it d an , state. Probabl entrance yth ee middl e doorwath th n e castlf i eo th s f yeo wa south front, with a square stair leading up to the hall on the first floor. The most likely place for the kitchen will have been in the heel of the main building. n anciena Towi s wa et propert e Forbeses,th f yo d thian 1s brancf ho the family have obtained historical notoriety through the dreadful tragedy of November 1571, so touchingly commemorated in the beautiful ballad of Edom e scen ' Gordon.th o tha f t eo tBu catastrophe I hav s a ,e already show thesn ni e Proceedings, t Towicasey no t an Corgarff s ,en bu i wa d an ; until 161 e capita8th l messuag baronye th f eo f Towi o e "wat hert no s ebu t Nethea r Towie south-west.e mila ,th o et presene Th 2 t castle will therefore have been built subsequent to 1618, and with this date its architectural features—the elongated L-plan, the thinness of the walls, and the style of the corbelling—are in full agreement. According to a writer of 1797,3 e castl neves th ewa r finished. "It broke three laird rearinn si whap gu t remainsthree w th no ed ot i fdifferen an ; t kind worf so visible kar thio et s day. traco N f thi"eo s alleged threefol seene t db bu masonrw ; no n yca the state of the remains, which have not materially changed since Jarqes Giles mad s drawinehi t n 1841ginconsisteni no s i , t wit n a e ide hf th o a uncompleted undertaking. Whethe r noto e ruinro ,s th thi e sb s forma characteristic" and interesting specimen of the latest phase in Scottish baronial architecture. The plan reproduced herewith is based on that made by the late Dr David MacGibbon, hal centura f y ago, whe buildine nth mors gwa e entire. I have revise surves dhi added y an firs e dplaa th tf nflooo r of-the tower.

Towie Castle now belongs to Captain Hugh P. .Lumsden of Clova. Hd .an Tayler. A Housee e Th Se , 1 of Forbes, . 438-9pp . Proceedings,e Se 2 vol. . Ixi86-95 pp .t Nethe A . r Towie there lies,-o e edggardea nth f eo n patch overhanging the ruined mill, a fragment of a window lintel or sole wrought in Kildrummy freestone, with vertical toolin 3-inca d gan h chamfer, carefully mitre reprise jambe th th t lookt I f da eo . s like sixteenth-century work. Don, Poem,a . 1905 . 7-8ed pp , .