THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| Vol. XIV. No. 393.] | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1829. | [PRICE 2d. |
Glammis Castle
Here is a castellated palace, or princely castle, associatedwith many great and daring events in the roll of Scottish history.It stands in the valley of Strathmore, in a park of 160 acres, alittle to the north of Glammis, a village of Angus, N.B. Theoriginal foundation is of high antiquity; for Malcolm II. wasassassinated here in the year 1034, and the chamber in which heexpired is still shown. Two obelisks, one near the Manse, and theother in a neighbouring field, denote the places where he wasattacked. In this castle also, according to some historians,Macbeth murdered Duncan. We notice, however, that Sir Walter Scott,in his recently-published version of the story of Macbeth, statesthe murder to have been committed at "a great castle nearInverness," in which he is corroborated by Bæthius, who says,the castle stood upon an eminence south-east of Inverness. ButFordun says the murder was perpetrated near Elgin; and others sayat Cawdor Castle.
The Castle originally consisted of two rectangular towers,longer than broad, with walls of fifteen feet in thickness; theywere connected by a square projection, and together formed a figuresomewhat like the letter Z, saving that in the castle all theangles were right ones; this form gave mutual defence to every partof the building. It contains a spiral staircase of 143 steps,reaching from the bottom to the top of the building.
Glammis Castle is still the seat of the Strathmore family. Itwas given by Robert I. of Scotland, in the year 1376, with hisdaughter, to John Lyon, Lord Glammis, chancellor of Scotland. Greatalterations and additions were made to the building by Patrick,Earl of Strathmore, his lineal heir and successor: theseimprovements, according to the above cited plan, a date carved on astone on the outside of the building, and other authorities, weremade in the year 1606, and not in 1686, as is said in an old printengraved about that time, and from which our view is copied. Thearchitect employed on this occasion, as tradition reports, wasInigo Jones; indeed, the work seems greatly to resemble Heriot'sHall at Edinburgh, and other buildings designed by him. The greathall was finished in the year 1621; it is a handsome room with a[pg226] carved ceiling, adorned with heads and ornaments instucco. Among the apartments shown to visitors, are a wardrobecontaining a curious collection of old state dresses; the armoury,in which are preserved the sword and coat of mail of Macbeth, aswell as some articles supposed to have been carried off byMalcolm's murderers, and found in the Loch of Forfar, during thelast century; and the chapel built about 1500, the furniture ofwhich remains in its original state. Here also are about onehundred portraits; among which is a large picture, in a carvedframe, representing Earl Patrick and his three sons; in thebackground is a view of the castle, as it was in the year 1683. Atthat time there were three gates leading from the park. Some ideam