Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot.] [VOL. LXXII.

RETAINERS H LORDS HALLo

First Floor. Doune : Plans Basement. W. DOUGLAS SIMPSON. PLATE III. faceo [T page. 73 CORRIGENDA,

"north-westr PagFo , lin, e73 e14 " read "north-east." Page 80, line 20. For "neighbours" read "neighbourhood." Page 82, note 1. For "xx" read "xxi." 3 7 .

I.

DOUNE CASTLE. BY W. DOUGLAS SIMPSON, M.A., D.LiTT., F.S.A.Scc-T.

Doune Castle, built withi e earthworkth n r e o earlie th n f du o rs fort which gave the site its name,1 occupies a lofty and commanding position, overlookin e Rive e th sharg th r pn i Teith angld an ,e which that "arrowy" stream, makes wit s brisit h k tributary e Ardocth , h Water. The castle was built, towards the end of the fourteenth century, y Roberb t Stewart, Duk f Albanyo e , Regen f Scotlano t e reigth nn di of Robert III and James I.2 l saval en I minor alteration d additionan s unifore wora son f o km building effort, the castle (see plans, Plate III) forms an irregular pentagon in plan e habitablth , e building se nort beinth d north-wes n an ho g t sides, while the remainder of the enclosure is screened by a high and massive curtain wal . l Thes2) (figs , 1 e. domestic buildings divide themselves into three great blocks donjothe : tower-housor n the at e north-west corner hale th ;l block extending westward fro e donjonmth ; and the kitchen wing, or tower, which occupies the south-west corner. The donjon—called "the grait tour 158n i " 1 3—contain e entranceth s , covere powerfua y db l round tower formd an , completsa segregated ean d residence for the lord, his family and their personal staff. The long vaulted trance is strongly defended by a , worked from a window- bay in the hall above, by wooden folding doors, and by a massive two- leaved iron "yett. eithen O "r sid vaultee ear d guardrooms, cellarsd an , a prison. From the guardrooms the trance is commanded by loopholes suitably disposed. On the first floor is a spacious and well-lit, vaulted hall; there is a solar above, with a neatly fitted up little oratory in a window bay; and over all were garret bedrooms. At the north-east cornee donjo e stouth th f o rs ni t round tower whic alreads h(a y stated) flank e entranceth ss vaultei t I . d from botto mtopo t , containinga

Most probably prehistoric, thoug cannoe hw t exclud e possibilitth e e y th tha e b t they yma 1 remain earln a f yo s Norman castle t InvernochtA . Aberdeenshirn yi e Celtith e c word "Doune" is applied to such an earthwork. e historTh °' f Dounyo e Castl s fullei r t WilliafortySi se n hi m Bookd Fraser Re f Menteith, o e Th , vol. i. pp. 471-96. It is architecturally described, with a full series of measured drawings, by D. Macgibbon and T. Boss, The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, vol. i. pp. 418-29. plane Th s accompanyin presene gth t pape basee rar thosn do Macgibbof eo Rossd nan , with certain additions and corrections. 3 B. S. Mylne, The Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland, p. 60. 74 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , JANUAR , 1938Y10 .

well-room in the basement and a succession of private chambers above. e Oinneth n e rdonjo th sida shallo f s o ei n w square projecting tower (fig. 2) affording a look-out over the court. The donjon hal enteres i l d fro exteriorn e coura m th y b t stone stair, whic s defende irohn wa a ne footy b dgatth t , ea whil e dooeth r above was secured with a drawbar. There is no communication, other than

Pig . Doun1 . e Castle: View from north-east before Restoration. [From Macbeanphotothe in Jacobite Collection, Aberdeen University Library.] trap-doora y b , wit storage e basementhth goo th o n tw ei d t spirabu , l stairs lead to the floors above. The great double-arched fireplace in e halnotabla th s i l e feature. Originall ydireco n ther s t ewa acces f o s y kinan d froe tower-housmth e halth l o bloct e k adjoining—the on e door which now leads through, on the first floor, being a modern insertion. The hall block contains the great or common hall of the castle, as distinct fro e lord'mth e tower-houses th hal n i l s enterei n a t I y . db external stair, like that which serve lord'e significanth s i t si hallt bu ; t that this common hal lt securestaiwayy no an s i r , n di eithe r belof wo above. The hall had a central hearth, with a louvre overhead. Under the hall are vaulted cellars, with the usual service stairs—again in contras e absencth o t f sucto e h communicatio e tower-houseth n i n .

76 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , JANUAR , 1938Y10 .

Above the hall there is nothing to correspond with the solar in the tower-house, as the hall block was only two storeys in height. It had n open-timbea r roof whose enriched corbels still remains wesit t t A . end wer screensethe , wit hminstrel'a s gallery above. The kitchen tower is connected with the hall by a cleverly managed servic es cellare basement roomth ha n t i sI kitchee . th ; n itself, lofty d vaultedan , wito enormoutw h s service-hatches, adjoin e halth sl on the same level; and above is accommodation for guests—namely, one larg d well-equippean e d room oveo storeye kitchentw th r d s an , of smaller chambers over the service room. These are reached by a sixteenth-century stair which must replac a predecessore , perhap f timbero s notablA . e feature completth s i e e severancf o e these guest rooms from the tower-house, which was evidently strictly reservee e lord'kitchen useth Th r ow .s fo dn communicaten a y b s outside stair wit ha , covere a bol y db d . With the exception of the main entrance and this postern, there is no opening sorty t eveoan f no , nloopholea lowee th n ri oute,e parth f ro t walls. e Tusksoutth n he kitchei s th wal f o l n tower sho ws in -thawa t i t tende carro dt y further buildings roun courtyarde dth foundatione Th . s which still remaine sout th d eas n han to , sides e paltr ar ,d see yan m e largth e t late b windowbu o ;e t soutth n hi s wall—the eastmost being pointed—show tha n importana t t buildino havt s e wa gstoo d here. Very likely this was the chapel, which in this position would be oriented. In 1587 there is a record of two chapels of St Fillan, one within and the other without the castle. As the former can hardly be the tiny oratory in a window arch of the donjon solar, it seems probable tha chapea t actualld ha l y been built agains soute th t h curtaine th n I . centre of the courtyard is a second draw-well. An allure' walk between front and rear parapets goes all round the curtain d alon an e wall-head, th g e residentiath f o s l buildingsn O . the tower-hous e halth l d blocs carriei an e t ki d ove e high-pitcheth r d roof y stepse curtainb s Th . s have open n turrete anglei th d t an a s the centre of each face. These seem to be additions of the sixteenth century d weran , e 1581n probabli n o , t whe ypu e "allering nth e th f "o castle was renewed.1 Midway in the north front (fig. 2) is a small, solid, half-round tower, carryin n opea g n turre t -tha t e wall- walk level. In general, the castle exhibits the rugged and unadorned, gloomy grandeur that characterises most Scottish secular architecture during this period. The masonry is coursed rubble, with dressed stone-

work at the quoins and voids, and the moulded detail is of the heavy Mylne1 , Master Masons, p. 60. DOUNE CASTLE. 77

kind usua Scotlann i l d about 1400. Aroun e wholdth e castle wan a s outer breastwork, scrap whicf so h still remain. lons ha g t beeI n recognised that Doune Castle exhibits close affinities with the great French Chateau de Pierrefonds, erected by the Due d'Orleans about 1390—1400. At Pierrefonds, as at Doune, we find tha) (figs4 , t3 .wha calles i t e donjodth n form greaa s t composite mass of building, containin e accommodatio th n itseli g l al f n requirea n i d seignorial residence of the first rank. As Viollet le Due says: 1 " Le donjon du chateau pent etre completement isole des autres defenses. donjonLe . . . etait I'habitation specialement reserves au seigneur et comprenant tons les services necessaires : caves, cuisines, offices, chambres, garderobes, salons, et salles du reception." As at Doune, the donjon contains the entrance, covered by a special drum tower. Aroun t Dounea e courtyard s th da e samy ,th wa en i , are ample halls and other accommodation for the general household and for guests, but kept wholly apart from the lord's establishment e donjon th e separat n i Th . e outside stairs, affording acces o thest s e different apartments, whic have hw e see t Dounena a distinctiv e ar , e feature of Pierrefonds. At Pierrefonds also we note the lateral postern and the absence, or almost absence, of openings in the basement of the. thick outer walls. Scotlann I dclosa e paralle Douneo t l elaboration i t thesin i , no f si n studiee b oscalen i ry t Sanquhada ma , r Castl e Nithsdale.n ei se e w s A 2 t nowi , Sanquhar Castl piecemeaa s ei l structure greae th t t fifteenthbu , - century frontal consolidation is a work of one design and building effort, and obviously aim meeo st e samth t e requirements e provideth n i r dfo donjo Dounef no t SanquhaA . tower-house rth e contain groune th n so d flooe maith r n , vaulted pend guardrooman d , wit a hlarg e hall, kitchen, and private accommodation for the lord above; at Sanquhar, ' also, a bold round frontal tower serves the double purpose of enclosing the well and flanking the outer portal. As at Doune, the pend is com- mande n observatioa y b d n loop fro e guardroommth therd o n an ,s ei direct communication betwee e basemen ne th mai th nd flooran t , which is entered by an outside stair from the courtyard. The side gate at Pierrefonds and Doune is again repeated at Sanquhar. Obviously these three belong to a specialised type, which must owe its development to a specific cause. That cause was inherent

Description u Chateaud Pierrefonds,e d ; Dictionnaire 15 ed.h . 4t p , I'architecture,e d vol. iii.

p. 1531 .

papey m e Trans.n ri Se Dumfries Gallowayd an Nat. Hist, Antiquariand an Society (forthcoming). 2 CHATEAU DE,PIERREFONDS^

,! n >«'///

Fig. . Chatea3 Pierrefondse ud : Plan, after Viollet le Due. Fig . Chatea4 . Pierrefondse ud : View from south-east. [Drawn by David Macgibbon, LL.D.'] 80 PROCEEDING F THO S E SOCIETY, JANUAR , 1938Y10 . e greath n ti change that came over feudal warfar e lateth rn i eMiddl e Ages n oldeI . n time a baros n would pursu s quarrelehi d defenan s d his castle with his own vassals, dwelling around him. All that he required, therefore, was a towered curtain wall to fence his house. In tim siegef eo tenante th , s who garrisor callee mh fo p du n purposes would be lodged in the towers. Often, under the system of tenure by castle- guard, each important vassal might hav especiaa l towe looo t r k after, and in some cases these towers still bear the vassals' names. But in the later Middle Ages the attack and defence of fortified places had become a high art, for -which the tumultuary feudal levies, untrained and ill-equipped, were little fitted. Field warfare also had grown into a specialised science d campaignan , s werpushew eno d through ruth- lessly unti side r anotheon leo brokens totaler rwa De . Krieg, borroo t w Ludendorff's expressive phrase, had now superseded the chivalric contests, wit l theial h r polite conventionse th , n familiai o whics s e u har o t r picturesque page f Froissarto s r warfarFo . f typthiw o e ene th se feudal levies, bound only to'serv r shorefo t period timea t sa , wero en longer suitable. Mord moran e e therefore—particularl n Franci y e durin e sociath g l breakdown that accompanie e Hundredth d Years' War—the great barons in their incessant private quarrels with each other came to rely upon mercenary soldiers whom they held in their pay. Quarters for these professionals had to be available; and this meant, for the first time, standing garrisons in each castle. Whereas in former days the castle, in time of peace, would contain only the lord's familia or household, it must now provide accommodation for a compact body of mercenary troops. The neighbours of these hard-boiled lanzknechts would always be inconvenient and often dangerous, for they did not owe the natural allegiance of vassals, and were at all times liable to be tampered with by their employer's enemies. Hence, for reasons both of privac safetyd y an greae th , t French lordfourteente th f so h d fifteentan h centuries took car o providt e e their castles with self- contained residence their sfo r familie theid san r personal retinue. In a similar development came about in the closing stage of feudalism, before the Wars of the Roses put an end, once for all, to the enlisting of private armies by the baronage. Every student of this period know seriouw sho evin e armea s th l d retainer e powerfuth f o s l lordenergeticall w becomed ho ha s d an , e Tudoyth r monarchs grappled with it in their statutes against "livery and maintenance." The mischief had already begun in the latter part of the fourteenth century, and the first Act passed against livery and maintenance dates from 1390. In the overseas wars the English barons had only too aptly learned their DOUNE CASTLE. 81

lesson from their French antagonists. Instead of vassals they now surrounded themselves with armed retainers, each wearin s lord'ghi s s quarrelshi l al livern i ; boun d pars whilym an hi hi tfigho n dt r eo fo t e lorth d pledged himsel o "maintaint f " them agains l legaal t l conse- quence f theio s r actions, eithe suborniny b r r intimidatingo g juriesr o , y stilb l more violent measures. Matters drifte do worst frod emba afte e Englisth r h were f turneFranceo t largd dou an , e number- un f o s employed ex-service men, habituate o violencet d , were onlo glato yd to accept the livery of a powerful lord:— "Great landowners d crowdha f o armeo s wh , d retainer n theii s r service, bribed and bullied juries till the administration of the law became rarth en occasiono farceea d an , s when this course failed, they knew how to vindicate their claims by maiming or assassinating their opponents, or by laying to houses the possession of which they coveted." 1 All over Western Europe, and as far east as the lands which the Teutonic Orde conquered ha r d beyon e Vistuladth , developthiw ne s - a profoun o f t castlmeno d t le dtear changplanninge th e n i e Th . mercenaries could not be trusted, and so for their own safety, as well aensuro t s e their privacy e lordth , s bega segregato nt e themselven i s quarters separat d jealouslean y isolated froe maimth n castle fabric. Sometimes they adde a dself-contained , tower-hous .ao o providt s e e solar accommodatio olden a o rnt domestic lay-out withi .e nth Thi s whai s t happene n Englani d t Tattershala d d Buckdenan l t a ; Holyrood in Scotland; and, on a very great scale, at Marienburg in East Prussia.2 In other cases the lords withdrew into a tower-house or donjon wholly separate fro e domestimth c range—ofte r thafo n t purpose reverting to the long abandoned matte of an earlier scheme. That was what led to the building of the great donjons at Dudley and Warkworth, crowning disused mottes, and to those of Nunney and 3 Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where no motte was available. But in France, at Pierrefonds, where the whole castle was built on one plan and at one period, we see the new thesis developed ab initio, completely and with Gallic logic. Tha e buildeth t f Douno r e shoul closelo ds y have followed Frenca h mode moro n s eli than wha shoule tw d expect fro intimate mth e association of the two countries at this very time. And already in Scotland itself, at the time when Doune was a-building, there was a precedent, equally French in inspiration, for the new conception. 1 S. B. Gardiner, Introduction to English History, p. 98. 2 See my paper on these castles in Journal Brit. Archceol. Association, new ser., vol. xl. pp. 177-92;

and, for Buckden, ibid., 3rd ser., vol. ii. pp. 121-32. 3 See my paper in Arclweologia JEliana, 4th ser., vol. xv. pp. 115-136. VOL. LXXII. 6 82 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 10, 1938.

Tantallon Castle, which was certainly in existence by 1374, shows in its tall central tower, containing a complete suite of apartments for the lord or castellan, pierced at ground level by the main entrance, the same idea, worked out in a simpler way. Caerlaverock, in its original form, illustrate like sth e thesis, more fully developed.1 Tantallon, Caerlaverock, Doune Sanquhard an , producl a alik al ,e ear identicaf o t l conditionsf o , e timth e whe lord'na s power cam res o et vassallonges o n thi t n o rsbu s armeonhi d retainer d mercenariesan s . This characteristic develop- e latementh f r o tMiddl s erampana Ages wa sevin a tScotlann i l s da elsewhere, as the legislation of the Stewart kings, from James I onwards, amply shows. The influence exerted upo e latth ne mediaeval castle e th pla y nb adven f specialiseo t d mercenar e complicateyth warfarel al d an d, evils summe n Englani p u d d unde e comprehensivth r e term "liverd an y maintenance"—this "reviva f anarcho l a civilise n yi d society" 2—has hithert t beeno o n recognised. Rightly appreciated t i afford, e th s explanation of much that has seemed puzzling in the secular archi- tecture fourteentth f o e d fifteentan h h centuries r exampleFo . e th , grou f lato p e tower-house n Englandi s , already mentioned, which hitherto have been regarded as a kind of conscious architectural atavism —"a deliberate reture donjoth f o earlient o n r days, falw "l no 3 into their natural place, not as the product of a meaningless antiquarianism quite foreig spirie th thei f mose o o tnt th rs t a agepractica t ,bu l embodi- ment of urgent current requirements. The atavistic theory of these late tower-house s reacheha s s climae languagit dth n a receni x f o e t writer describeo wh , s tha t Warkworta t fines e "s ha th t tribute paio dt the memory of the ancient ." 4 Nothing is more certain than that the "stout Earl of Northumberland" would have kicked his master mason downstairs had he presented himself before his lordship with y sucan h pious proposal. Ther s naughi e t whateve f pieto r y about late th e tower-house Englandf so . contrarye Quit th speciae n th eo r fo ,l needs of their time they are the most up to date and apposite thing that their builders could have devised. It is extremely instructive to note the effect which the new problems of mercenary warfare exercise dmose eveth n tn o rigidl y conventionalised castleworlde th n si , Teutonie thosth f eo c Orde whico t r hI hav e already

See my paper in Trans. Dumfries and Galloway Nat. Hist, and Antiquarian Soc., 3rd ser.,

vol . Of.xx 1 . Proceedings, vol. Ivii. 29-40pp . . 2 G. M. Trevelyan, Hist. England, p. 259. . HamiltoA 3 n Thompson, Tattershall, Manor,e Th Castle,e Church,Th e Th . 11-12pp ; alsn oi

Tattershall Castle, by the Marquess Curzon and H. Avray Tipping, p. 182. . BrauuH English4 e Th , Castle,. 56 . p DOUNE CASTLE. 83

alluded.1 Her e combinatioeth e cros d swordth e hand f an th sno n i s, of the military monks, entailed a corresponding combination of the e cloistefortresth d thein i ran s r dwellings. Each castl buils o ewa t t house a commandery of twelve religious knights, and so their design is rigidly claustral and their arrangements as highly standardised as y westerthosan f o en monastery t froe latteBu mth . e r th par f o t fourteenth century onwards e crusadinth , g fervou e Knightth e f th o r f so Sable Cross bega o Avanent d thean ,y grew mor d mor ean rely o et r fo , maintenance th theif eo r power, upon mercenarie upod swarme san nth s of knightly adventurers who e prestigm th e Order th f eo , combined with love f excitementh eo e hop th f booty eo d an t , induce tako dt e service in the long series of campaigns against Poland and Lithuania. The resul strikingls i t y see sucn ni hcastla s Neidenburgea , erected shortly before 1400. Her e concentratioth e e mas d th weighe f an th so n f o t building e provisioove e th entry th rd an ,n thi ni s a separatpar f o t e quarter for the commandant, who instead of being the provost of a fraternit s fellow-knightshi f e chiegana o y th f f hirelingso fgo w no s i , , is in all essentials the same as what we have seen at Pierrefonds and at Doune or at Caerlaverock. In these four contemporary castles, so widely separated in space, and so different in their political antecedents, we e samobservth ew resulteho s were produce e samth ey db powerfu l cause. I have to acknowledge that this paper has been prepared under a schem f researco e h supporte a travellin y db g grant fro e Carnegimth e e UniversitieTrusth r fo t f Scotlandso illustratioe Th . t frofigs na i 2 m. a hitherto unpublished drawing by the late Dr Thomas Ross, F.S.A.Scot.

standare 1Th d wor thesn ko e castle s Conrasi d Steinbrecht Baukunste Di , des Deutschen Ritter- ordens in Preussen, speciall e alsySe o vol Karl-Hein. ii . z Clasen e MittelalterlicheDi , Kunst im Gebiete des Deutschordensstaates Preussen, vol. i.