196 FIELD MEETINGS. 
fine stairway in the form of a horseshoe ascending to the entrance, 
and the walls are richly ornamented, the architraves of windows 
and doors being profusely adorned with armorial bearings. 
Owing perhaps to its resemblance to Heriot’s Hospital, the build- 
ing has been ascribed to Inigo Jones, but this has been shown to 
be wrong. ‘The present castle took ten years in building, and 
was finished in 1689, the year after the Revolution. Inside there 
is a wealth of tapestry and carving, with a large number of 
portraits, mostly by Lely and Kneller. One of these—a portrait 
of William III.—bears marks of Highland dirks, inflicted by 
some of Prince Charlie’s men on their retreat from Derby in 
1745. Among the other portraits is one of “Old Q,’’ a noted 
patron of the turf and sport, who wrought havoc in the woods at 
the end of the eighteenth century, leaving the hills bleak and 
bare, though they continued so only for a short time, as a suc- 
cessor commenced the work of restoration in 1827. Among the 
features of the interior of the castle are the chapel, part of which, 
notably the doorway, is of very old architecture ; the dining-room, 
with carving by Grinling Gibbons ; and the drawing-room, in which 
there is very fine carving over both doorways, as well as a large 
extent of walls covered by tapestry on which are represented 
scenes, mostly of a martial character. In an ante-drawing-room, 
and in the smoking-room also, part of the walls are covered with 
tapestry. Family portraits are conspicuous in the dining and 
drawing-rooms, and especially in the entrance hall, in which there 
are also a number of antlers and other trophies of the chase. 
The outlook from some of the windows is magnificent. In one 
case the foreground is occupied by what is known as the American 
garden, and in another by finely laid out grounds with flower- 
beds of brilliant colours, called “The Paisley Shawl.’’ There 
are very few trees more than eighty years old standing in the 
grounds, apart from the lime-tree avenue of 1754; but from the 
North Avenue, along which the party passed on returning, a 
splendid view is obtained of the woods which encircle the castle, 
adding much to the dignity of Drumlanrig. 
