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The estate of Loch Dochart was acquired by my husband's grandfather, Mr Edward Place, of Skelton Grange, York, after his marriage with Lady Ann Gordon in the year 1798 or 1799.

Till about the year 1890 the castle was completely buried in its own

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Fig. 2. Stone Tablet with Armorial Bearings of Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy.

ruins. The great tower-like chimney stood up on the south, and the outer corner of the walls could be traced, and a good height of both east and west walls remained. The place was in a state of great confusion, and one had to force one's way through brushwood and midges, and somehow found oneself on a most uncomfortable and unaccountable heap of stones, greatly overgrown with nettles and garlic, wild rose bushes and rowans, with quite a large ash-tree in the middle, while a few

currant and gooseberry bushes and a real white-heart cherry-tree bore testimony to an ancient garden outside.

We used to picnic on the island, and there was only one spot where we could have luncheon free from the stinging, prickly, strong-smelling vegetation. It stood rather out to the loch, on the sunny south side, commanding a splendid view of Ben More.

Here on one occasion about the period indicated, after luncheon, the boys and girls of the party began a stone-throwing competition, and soon

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Fig. 3. Earthenware Jug found in the dungeon (6 inches in height).

great blocks began to be flung into the loch. Then I spoke out the wish of my heart for many a day. "Oh, I do wish we could clear all these stones away, and see what the castle was really like, and put it right and take an interest in it." As happens when there is a proposal of sport being turned into work, some were willing and others were not; the latter thought they had better go a-fishing-and to fish they went. Well, we who remained and two boatmen set to work, and by the time the fishers returned to tea, what had we to show them? A dungeon 8 feet deep, quite cleared out! This was the projecting round tower on which we used to encamp, then a mere heap of stones clear of vegetation.

The dungeon seems strongly built on the solid rock. An iron staple fixed in the wall, and another knocked out by the falling masonry, was suggestive of the poor prisoner, as were the remains of a knife found on the floor, which had been worn into a hollow, possibly by an endeavour to file a chain; also the small pieces of a jug, of coarse ware (fig. 3), which we pieced together.

There were also quantities of bones found, charred beyond recognition of their kind. From the bottom of the dungeon there is a flue 20 inches wide by 12 inches high, which runs along below the east wall of the castle, -a contrivance not unlike what is found in connection with the dungeons at Craigmillar Castle.

After our first day's work, we consulted as to the prosecution of the undertaking, and decided that on such days as could be given up by the votaries of sport, we would take time at the castle and try to see what it had been like- and on off days, perhaps four in a season for ten years, we worked at it. We had men who worked splendidly, often kind and enthusiastic visitors, and always a band of busy, sharp-eyed boys and girls looking out for curios. The result of our labours is that whereas we used to climb over heaps of stones, now we walk in through a doorway which had been secured with a sliding bar, and find ourselves in a hall (see fig. 4) 28 feet long by 17 feet wide, with a projecting ingle nook about 9 feet square, having a small window on each side, and one in the centre, thus commanding the whole length of the loch and the glen. There is a round arch at the back, 7 feet 6 inches above the floor, to support an intake of the wall above, shown by a dotted line on the plan. This ingle nook, the hearth of which is paved, probably served as the kitchen. Leading off the hall is a private room, up one step, about 8 feet wide, with a good fireplace and a small window. There are several presses in the walls, all about 3 feet above the floor, except one, a garderobe, with a rounded end, which comes to the floor- it is situated at the door leading to the private room. Near this is a wheel stair in a projecting turret leading to the upper floors. On the south side another wheel stair in a similar turret has led to the

upper rooms at the east end of the house, and to the room in the projecting round tower at the south-east angle. There is no entrance to the prison in this tower on the ground floor, which has been reached by a trap in the floor above, to which the stair gave access, so that it may be supposed to have been a prison. It has a small window or breathing

ENTRANCE

PRIVATE
ROOM

HALL OR KITCHEN

INGLE NOOK

Fig. 4. Ground-plan of the Castle on the Isle of Loch Dochart.
By Thomas Ross, F.S. A. Scot.

hole, with a kind of projecting shoot or sink in the sill. The turret reaches the edge of the rock, which is here precipitous, about 12 feet high, with deep water below. The north and south walls are now about 7 or 8 feet high. The gables are much higher, the east one being almost entire, but up the line of the recess of the windows of the two upper floors it is rent, and the northern half is tottering to its fall, and would have fallen ere this if we had not had it propped with railway rails.

The ingle nook stands nearly its full height, and has been finished as a tower-like, picturesque chimney with several intakes. The ingle nook is a frequent feature in houses after the Reformation, and this is one of the most important.

The house was three storeys high; the upper floor had dormer windows; the tympanum of one, quite entire and of good design, is lying

Fig. 5. Dormer Window and its Tympanum, as it would have appeared in position.

among the ruins, and is shown as it would have appeared in its original position in fig. 5.

This house has been planned as a place of residence rather than of defence-its position on a deep loch being its security. It was meant to be a comfortable, dry, and sanitary abode, and had throughout an excellent timber floor, of which we found the charred remains 2 inches thick; under this a layer of fine sand fully 18 inches deep, which must have been carried thither, there being none on the island. This was a most careful preparation for a timber floor. There were many evidences

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