Field Meetings. 315 



was to be seen what was formerly the castle dungeon. " The 

 vaulted roof of the basement chambers was levelled up to form 

 the floor of the lofty banqueting hall, 27 feet long by 16 feet 

 broad, and which occupies the entire area of the interior. There 

 is a large fireplace in the north wall, measuring 9 feet by 6, which 

 has been richly sculptured, but the great lintel has been removed. 

 Among other recesses in the walls are two aumries, with Gothic 

 mouldings, revealing the hand of the ecclesiastical builder. The 

 wooden floors of the upper apartments, in common with every 

 scrap of woodwork, have now disappeared. The apartment 

 immediately above the hall had been sub-divided into two by a 

 partition wall, which now hangs in mid-air across the whole 

 width of the building, without any visible support other than 

 that afforded by a slight arched curve and the wonderful strength 

 and tenacity of its ancient mortar. ' ' In one of the upper 

 rooms is also an ornately carved fireplace with the lintel stone 

 intact. Opening off the winding stair on a level with the second 

 floor is a small chamber, 7 feet by 4, in the floor of which is an 

 aperture about a foot and a half square. This is tl>e entrance 

 to a dark and dismal dungeon of the same cramped dimensions 

 as the chamber over it. There would be no room on the knoll 

 on which the castle stands for other buildings ; but there had 

 been others clustered near the main strength for occupation by 

 retainers. The date of the building of the castle has been fixed 

 at about 1450. " The present condition of preservation of the 

 walls, exposed for 200 years to summer rain, winter frost, and 

 storms from the sea, are a convincing proof of the care of the 

 mason work. . . . The walls stand beautifully square to 

 each other. . . . The ancient roadway by which the castle 

 was approached can be traced from the valley or glade on the 

 north-west side. It is believed that the arm of the sea or 

 estuary of the Fleet surrounded the base of the rocky knoll up 

 ■ to the line of the present public road." In this connection it 

 may be recalled that Gatehouse was formerly an important centre 

 for shipbuilding, one of the residents of the town being able to 

 recall the launch of a ship of 300 tons burthen about the year 

 1843. Referring again to the castle, some supplementary par- 

 ticulars were .supplied by Mr G. M'Leod Stewart, Dumfries, a 

 member of the Cairnsmore family (who was one of the party). 

 He gave the following account of the castle, which was takem 



