style of their architecture. The central feature out
of which this Scottish so-called baronial style de-
veloped was the square tower or keep which in
itself often rose to a great height, as, for example,
in the case of the Tower of Lethington, whose walls,
ten to thirteen feet in thickness, rise to a height of
eighty feet. These towers in their original object
speak eloquently of the insecurity of life, of the
unsettled condition, and of the poverty of the
people. The tower was the stronghold and the
dominating feature of the district. Internally it
consisted of single square apartments rising story
above story, with one outer door placed high in the
wall, and with narrow slits for windows. On such
bald and unhopeful foundation by degrees became
grafted the charming turrets, the gables, and the
other decorative accessories which add such a grace
and dignity to the square sombre masses, that form
the central feature of medieval Scottish mansions.
In the furnishing of these ancient houses, native
talent contributed comparatively little. Rich and
luxurious furnishings were out of place in strong-
holds where the clank of arms and the rough hand
of the freebooter were more familiar than the sound
of the ladys lute or the work of her embroidery
frame. Such furniture as was of native origin was
strong rather than elegant, and the ornamentation
it bore was large and bold in character. The
cradles in which our ancestors were rocked, the
chairs on which they sat, and the beds on which
they slept, were strong enough to withstand the
rough usage they received in the frequent attacks
made on them by unfriendly neighbours, and the
workmanship of such a tliorough nature that many
of them remain to the present day, proof also
against the assault of time.
Several pieces of furniture of more than usual
interest have been collected in the Bishop's Castle.
Of these may be mentioned a black oak cabinet,
which is said to have been the work of a prisoner,
the head of the noble family of Gordon of Earlston,
who, during an imprisonment which lasted for
eighteen years, employed his leisure time in carving
the whole wood-work of this cabinet. It dates
from the seventeenth century, and as the carver
must have worked from designs either before him
in his confinement, or from such as were familiar to
his memory, it forms a testimony to tiie state of
the art in Scotland at that time. Some of the
carvings are most elaborate and beautiful, but in
general they are of rather a bold and grotesque
nature. Wood-carving of a much older date
appears on what is known as the bed of the Black
Douglas, a relic which can be distinctly traced back
for four hundred years, but of which the decoration
points to a still earlier date. The figures of the
main subject are very rudely and grotesquely exe-
cuted, but the framework carving by which they
are surrounded, and the ornamental panels below,
are done in better taste and with more ingenuity,
and may have been added to the main 25ortion of
the work by a later hand. A very fine example of
carved oak Scottish work of the period of James IV.
is seen in the sideboard lent by Miss Laing of
Portobello. This sideboard, believed to have
belonged to Margaret Tudor, Queen of James IV.,
is riclily decorated with the rose, thistle, heart and
crown, and bears Queen Margaret's cipher set in a
profusion of rich Tudor carving, altogether forming
a piece of remarkably beautiful open-work carving
and fine workmanship.
Among the chairs which have been lent to the
Bishop's Castle Collection, the most important are
those which came from the Trinity House, Aber-
deen, being the property of the Incorporated Trades
of that city. These chairs show dates of manu-
facture extending over two hundred years. The
oldest of them is that known as King William's
chair, which in all probability formed part of the
plenishing of the ancient monastery of Trinity, the
panels (showing carved heads of monks and warriors)
evidently belonging to the early monkish period.
Another very fine chair is that presented by
Jerome Blak in 1574, which bears his coat of arms
and crest, a hand holding a cooper's adze ; and the
chair of Alexander Idle, Deacon-Convener of the
shoemakers, besides showing the crown and cutting-
knife of the craft on the back, bears his name, A.
Idle, and the date 1679.
When Scottisli scholars and Scottish soldiers of fortune went out to seek their spheres of activity in the wide fields of the European continent, they brought home with them on their return a know- ledge of the arts, and a love for the amenities of life which were not easily gratified from native sources. From these causes there is no doubt that many of the finer things which found their resting-place in the strongjiolds of powerful Scottisli nobles and of wealthy ecclesiastics were of foreign origin. These objects were the models on which native workmen executed their ruder copies, and from which native taste moulded itself. Above all, French influence was conspicuous in the arts, dress, furniture, and implements of Scotland. The French alliance was long and intimate, knit by the common hatred of the English foe. One of the most striking examples of the French connection, and a remarkable testi- mony at once to the skill of French workmen and to the fine taste of a Scottish ecclesiastic, are the six silver maces which, in the year 1683, were found in
