140 TIield Meetings. 
the top it is not less than six feet. The construction is of soli 
masonry throughout, not a facing of large stones filled with 
rubble between. It is said that when the present windows were 
formed to make the place suitable for a dwelling-house, it was 
necessary to use blasting powder to enlarge the openings. On 
the higher stories several of the old windows are still left, with 
stone seats in the recesses. One of the windows in the top flat 
is fitted with an old-fashioned frame, and on one of the panes a 
former inhabitant of the Castle has given vent to his feelings in 
the expression “Charming Grizzie Stewart, J. K.” The initials 
‘are supposed to be those of Sir James Kirkpatrick, who sold the 
estate in 1783. But “Charming Grizzie” is not the only lady 
whose praises have thus been handed down to posterity, for on 
the same window we read, “O, Fine Christy Kirkpatrick,” and 
“Miss Jeanie Kirkpatrick is a charming creature, 1762.” <A 
peculiarity about the building is that three of the flats are arched, 
while seldom if ever more than two are met with in such struc- 
tures. The old entrance is still in use, but a covered-in stair 
leads to it. The low doorway still has its trellised iron gate, and 
also a wooden door with an old-fashioned “sneck.” <A circle of 
noble trees now occupy the site of the wail, and the ground 
which once formed the bed of the loch is clothed with luxuriant 
pasture. A crack can be traced from the top to the bottom of 
the Castle, which is supposed to have been caused by a subsidence 
when the loch was drained in 1859. An old boat which was 
then found embedded in the moss is now in the museum at 
Edinburgh. 
Mr Brown very much laments the absence of a haunted 
chamber to show the many visitors who turn aside to have a look 
at the old place, or a ghost story to entertain them with. The 
family of Kirkpatrick, however, was too long associated with the 
place to be free of the superstitions which attached themselves to 
so many old families. It is said that when a death was to take 
place in the family a swan appeared on the loch which surrounded 
the Castle. The last time that this evil omen was seen is said to 
have been on the day when Sir Thomas, the first baronet, was 
leading his third bride to the altar. His son Roger went out 
and saw the ominous sign, and on returning to the house over- 
whelmed with melancholy his father railed on him for his 
desponding appearance, alleging the stepmother to be the cause 
