 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2011) |
Harling is a rough-cast wall finish consisting of lime and aggregate, known for its rough texture. [1] Many castles and other buildings in Scotland and Ulster have walls finished with harling. It is also used on contemporary buildings, where it protects against the wet Scottish and Ulster climates and eliminates the need for paint.
Harling as a process covers stonework using a plastering process involving a slurry of small pebbles or fine chips of stone. After a wall is complete and has been pointed and allowed to cure then a base of lime render is applied to the bare stone. While this render is still wet a specially shaped trowel is used to throw the pebbles onto the lime surface, which are then lightly pressed into it. Harl, being mostly lime render, cures chemically rather than simply drying. After this setting process, the harl is sometimes lime washed in a colour using traditional techniques. [2] [3]
It is not recommendable to replace more than around 20% of the lime content with cement. Cement-based render is very stiff and prone to crack or detach from the wall when subjected to stress induced by expansion due to solar radiation and moisture. It is also less permeable to moisture and water vapour. Water entering through fine cracks in the surface does not easily diffuse and can penetrate into the softer stone, thus causing the deterioration which harling aims to prevent. For similar reasons, modern barrier paints should not be used in place of traditional lime washes.
An example of the inadequate protection afforded by high cement harling is the Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed Hill House completed in 1904 using the newly available but poorly understood Portland cement harling. Over the years water had penetrated the harling and threatened the overall integrity of the building. The National Trust for Scotland, the building's owner, has (2019) enclosed Hill House in a transparent 'box' which will allow some rain to enter but which will eventually allow it to dry naturally. It is estimated that this will take seven to ten years, after which the box will be removed. [4]
The technique of harling features in a large number of famous Scottish buildings including:
The word "harling" was used in this sense in building accounts written in the Scots language, possibly deriving from the name of a tool called a "harl". [6] [7] At Falkland Palace, in 1540, John Kelly and John Malcolm alias Callum worked on the "harling" of the chapel (its interior), the tennis court walls, the east turnpike turret, and the Cross House of the East Quarter. [8] Some of the interiors were plastered by a French specialist craftsman called Hector Beato. [9]
The three craftsmen were known as "pargeonars" and their interior work was sometimes called "pargeoning". Lime for the work came from kilns on the nearby Lomond Hills or was shipped from Dundee to Lindores. [10] Some lime called "unburnt plaster" shipped from Dundee was processed for use at Falkland using coal. [11] The lime used with sand to "pergyn" two round turrets and vaulted entranceways or "transes" at Holyrood Palace in 1532 came from Cousland and Gilmerton. [12]
The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, 15 miles (24 km) west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the palace was little used, and was burned out in 1746. It is now a visitor attraction in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
Auchindoun Castle is a 15th-century L-Plan tower castle located in Auchindoun near Dufftown in Moray, Scotland.
Castles are buildings that combine fortifications and residence, and many were built within the borders of modern Scotland. They arrived in Scotland with the introduction of feudalism in the twelfth century. Initially these were wooden motte-and-bailey constructions, but many were replaced by stone castles with a high curtain wall. During the Wars of Independence, Robert the Bruce pursued a policy of castle slighting. In the Late Middle Ages, new castles were built, some on a grander scale as "livery and maintenance" castles that could support a large garrison. Gunpowder weaponry led to the use of gun ports, platforms to mount guns and walls adapted to resist bombardment.
Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, who took refuge there from political and religious turmoil of her times.
Dunbar Castle was one of the strongest fortresses in Scotland, situated in a prominent position overlooking the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian. Several fortifications were built successively on the site, near the English-Scottish border. The last was slighted in 1567; it is a ruin today.
Cousland is a village in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Dalkeith and 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Ormiston, on a hill between the Rivers Tyne and Esk.
The Master of Works to the Crown of Scotland was responsible for the construction, repair and maintenance of royal palaces, castles and other crown property in Scotland. The main buildings were; Holyroodhouse; Edinburgh Castle; Stirling Castle; Linlithgow Palace; and Falkland Palace. The position was roughly equivalent to that of Surveyor of the King's Works in the English Royal Household. The emergence of the position reflected a shift in responsibility from the masons, or administrators in holy orders, to designers with little hands-on knowledge of stonemasonry. Earlier holders of the office were often courtiers: James Hamilton of Finnart was the king's kinsman; John Scrymgeour was a heraldic expert; while William Schaw, an administrator, was a key figure in the development of Freemasonry, itself a 'craft' having little to do with building. Later holders filled a role similar to that of architects in the modern sense. Some Masters were craftsmen; Robert Robertson, who was master of work at Stirling Castle after the execution of the aristocrat Hamilton of Finnart, was a carpenter. During the reign of James V there was also a Principal Master Wright or carpenter, John Drummond of Milnab, and as well as building works he was concerned with the artillery and its logistics.
Sir Robert Drummond of Carnock was Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland from 1579 to 1583. This was the responsibility for building and repair of palaces and castles. His appointment was made to be "as Sir James Hamilton of Finnart had it."
A yett is a gate or grille of latticed wrought iron bars used for defensive purposes in castles and tower houses. Unlike a portcullis, which is raised and lowered vertically using mechanical means, yetts are hinged in the manner of a traditional gate or door, and secured by bolts attached to the yett, or by long bars drawn out from the wall or gateway.
The architecture of Scotland includes all human building within the modern borders of Scotland, from the Neolithic era to the present day. The earliest surviving houses go back around 9500 years, and the first villages 6000 years: Skara Brae on the Mainland of Orkney being the earliest preserved example in Europe. Crannogs, roundhouses, each built on an artificial island, date from the Bronze Age and stone buildings called Atlantic roundhouses and larger earthwork hill forts from the Iron Age. The arrival of the Romans from about 71 AD led to the creation of forts like that at Trimontium, and a continuous fortification between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde known as the Antonine Wall, built in the second century AD. Beyond Roman influence, there is evidence of wheelhouses and underground souterrains. After the departure of the Romans there were a series of nucleated hill forts, often utilising major geographical features, as at Dunadd and Dunbarton.
John Scrimgeour of Myres Castle near Falkland, Fife was Master of Work for royal buildings for James V and Mary, Queen of Scots, and Precentor of the Scottish Chapel Royal.
William MacDowall or McDougall was a Scottish priest and Master of Works to Mary, Queen of Scots, her mother Mary of Guise, and James VI of Scotland. The title 'sir' was used in Scotland by a priest without a master's degree. The name appears variously as McDowgall, McDougall, McDowall etc., in printed records, he signed accounts MAKDOUELL.
John Drummond of Milnab was a 16th-century Scottish carpenter in charge of the woodwork of the palaces, castles and guns of James IV of Scotland and James V of Scotland.
Andrew Mansioun, or Mentioun or Manschone or Manson, was a French artist who worked at the court of James V, King of Scots. He was the master carpenter of the Scottish artillery for Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI of Scotland.
The King's Wark in Leith was a building on the Shore of Leith, at the mouth of the Water of Leith into the Firth of Forth. The King's Wark was the Scottish royal arsenal where cannon used on royal ships were kept and maintained, and where supplies shipped to Leith for the royal household were stored. To the north east of the King's Wark the Shore was extended into the sea by a pier known as the "Bulwark". To the west was the Broad Wynd, and on the south, there was a walled yard. An inn on the site was documented in 1623. The site on the Shore includes a public house and restaurant called "The King's Wark" on the corner of the Shore and Bernard Street.
Walter Merlioun, was a Scottish master mason based in Edinburgh.
Nicolas Roy was a French stone mason who worked in Scotland for James V and his second wife Mary of Guise.
Thomas Peebles or Peblis was a Scottish glazier who worked for James IV, Margaret Tudor, and James V of Scotland.
William Hill was a Scottish blacksmith and fabricator of works in iron for James V of Scotland.
The More Taubronar was a musician of African origin at the court of James IV of Scotland and his wife Margaret Tudor. His name is unknown. A "taubron" was a kind of drum, the word is related to the modern form "tabor". The word "More" or "Moryen" was used for people of African origin at the Scottish court. Archival records credit the More Taubronar as the producer of a costumed dance or masque performed at the Scottish royal court in 1505.