CASTLE. 





CUitle. neither was the dungeon for confinement of pr; 



'.-' always und<-r tin- punned tower. Tin- walls of 

 Cocktnnouth Castle in Cumberland form nearly a 

 square, aliuut <;()() yard:; in compass, fl inked by KC- 



vcivl . Within are two court* | and on 



( t :he gate entering into the second art- two 

 deep dungeons, vaulted at the. top, and with a small 

 opening, thiough which the prisoners were lowtred 

 down : two narrow slits, level with the ground, ad- 

 mitted the provisions, light, and air. Each dungeon 

 is capable or containing 50 persons. Such dungeons 

 were sometimes iu the vestibule of the entrance into 

 ihc tower ; but little regard was paid to the conve- 

 niences of those unfortunate captives, who fell into 

 the hands of their enemies : and numerous examples 

 arc recorded of their being starved to death from 

 mere negligence. 



Castles, large or small, enclosing courts within 

 their precincts, are common throughout the is- 

 land, and at the same time exhibit great irregu- 

 larity of structure. The castle of Kildrummy, in 

 the north of Scotland, was of a pentagonal form, 

 nd defended at each angle by a strong and lofty 

 tower : the remains of one is still judged to be 50 

 yards in height. It contains a spacious court, ex- 

 ceeding an English acre in si^e ; and there are 

 indications of a subterraneous passage, for commu- 

 nicating with a deep glen below, through which, it 

 is affirmed, both men and horses could reach a stream 

 flowing in its centre. Before the use of cannon, 

 this place is said to have been thought impregnable. 



Enlarging the extent of castles admitted of an ir- 

 regular assemblage of buildings, and as the successive 

 owners attended to both convenience and defence, 

 their alterations and additions frequently exhibit a con- 

 fused, and sometimes an unsightly pile. Many were 

 so spacious as to have churches or chapels, we be- 

 lieve even monasteries, attached to them, and great 

 halls were fitted up for the hospitable entertainment 

 of retainers, or dependents on the proprietor. The 

 great hall of Naworth castle, which is a large square 

 pile, surrounding a court fortified by square towers 

 and battlements, is an hundred feet in length. In 

 Raby castle, which is an extensive irregular edifice, 

 with square towers, built in 1378, is a hall nearly of 

 equal dimensions with the former, in which 700 

 knights, who were vassals of the family owning it, are 

 said to have assembled: and, as is well known, the un- 

 fortunate Queen Mary, by a cruel sentence of the Eng- 

 glish court, was beheaded in the great hall of Fothe- 

 ringhay castle. 



The ancient castles of Britain and Ireland, and in 

 most parts of the continent, were built of stone and 

 lime; but the latter, by mixture with water, was re- 

 duced almost to a fluid state, and uncommon quanti- 

 ties poured into the walls. A strong and durable 

 bulwark was thus produced which the lapse of suc- 

 ceeding centuries is required to impair. 



The walls of the spacious catles built by the 

 Moors, are formed of mortar only, and entirely with- 

 out stones. Having undergone the necessary prepara- 

 tion, the mortar is rammed hard into moulds, first for 

 u foundation ; when this is done the moulds are remo- 

 ved, and receive another supply, which is also allowed 

 TO harden ; and by successively shifting the moulds 



VOL. v. PART n. 



! and higher, the wall gradually riici, and by < <ut 

 the quality of the mortar, and the influence of the "^"". 

 sun, h- < oni'- . ;i> hard and durable as tt 



Block houses, or wooden towers, were alto fre- 

 quently erected, though rather for temporary uic 

 than permanent fortifications ; nor it the use ofthem 

 unknown in modern times. 



The style of the ancient castle was necessarily such 

 as to be best calculated for defence againbt the usual 

 engines of war, and the repeated assaults of an ene- 

 my. Perhaps a considerable time elapsed before the 

 first invented cannon supplanted the catapulta, man- 

 gonel, trebuchet, and warwolf, which were all em- 

 ployed to discharge enormous stones against thi 

 sieged. These machines could throw a weight of 

 two or three hundred pounds; and an instance is rela- 

 ted where a certain general being displeased with the 

 purport of a mission from a neighbouring enemy, 

 loaded his engine with the messenger, and threw 

 him within the lines. While showers of stones were 

 discharged against the besieged, battering ram were 

 forcibly impelled against the gates, and moveablc 

 towers, pushed forward on wheels, enabled the a- 

 sailants, from different stages, to mount the walls. 

 Fire and mining were both employed, and the de- 

 fenders successively driven from thc-ir strongest posts : 

 thus, in four assaults by Henry III. on Bedford cas- 

 tle in 1224* " the barbican was taken by the lira, 

 and by the second the outer ballium. The old tower, 

 on the third attack, was thrown down by the miners, 

 whereby with great danger they rendered themselves 

 masters of the inner ballium, through a chink. At 

 the fourth assault the miners set fire to the tower, 

 so that the smoke burst forth, and the walls were 

 rent by broad- fissures, which compelled the gar- 

 rison to surrender." While the attack was going 

 on, the besieged were not idle : the stones projected 

 by the assailants were returned ; if the force of the 

 battering ram was directed against the wall, wool 

 packs were interposed ; likewise logs of timber were 

 thrown down to crush the enemy, or their machines 

 were destroyed by immense weights falling upon 

 them. While the besiegers attempted to force the 

 gates, burning sand or boiling lead were poured upon 

 their heads ; and, if they did succeed, a ponderous 

 portcullis, descending in its frame, opposed their 

 progress. 



It was not of less importance in ancient times to 

 individuals, that it is now to a nation, to prevent an 

 enemy from gaining a fortification. The unfortunate 

 defenders were generally put to death, and to an ig- 

 nominious one in proportion to the bravery they 

 had displayed in resistance. This horrible cus- 

 tom, practised only by a few modern barbarians, 

 is of ancient date. Joshua, the leader of Israel, 

 murdered his captives in cold blood. Alexander 

 the Great having besieged Arimazea, a soldier 

 who had established himself on a mountain with 

 30,000 men, gained the strongest posts above his 

 enemy. Arimazes offered to surrender, on condi- 

 tion that his own and his followers lives should be 

 spared ; but the victorious monarch rejected terms of 

 capitulation. Therefore Arimazes having descended 

 with his relatives and chief men, Alexander cruelly 

 scourged them, and then crucified them at the foot 





