The Castle — Its Arcliitectiiral Features. 



21 



gables have crow-steps, the chapel is very similar in 

 style to the work of the Perpendicular period in 

 England. The large, ivy-covered building at the west 

 end was, as stated by the Rev. Thomas White, minister 

 of Liberton, who wrote about 1752, "a Protestant 

 Presbyterian meeting-house," erected upon an indul- 

 gence granted by James VII. of Scotland.^ It was 

 probably at first one of the barns or offices connected 

 with the castle, and turned to this purpose. Above 

 the doorway are the Preston Arms, with the date 1549. 

 All writers on Craigmillar, including the Rev. 

 Thomas White, Sir Walter Scott, and Dr John Hill 

 Burton, refer to the arms of the Cockburns, Con- 

 galtons, Mowbrays, and Otterburns, as adorning the 

 walls of the castle. None of these, how- 

 ever, are here now, nor any other except 

 the Preston Arms, which occur four times, 

 and the Royal Arms, which surmount the 

 Preston Arms over the entrance above the 

 north gateway into inner courtyard, and Rebus. 

 again over the door leading to the south battlements 

 ^ Transactions of the Antiquarian Society. 



