The Principal Bedrooms of the 17th
Century House
Returning to the first landing, the second flight of stairs
gives access to the principal bedrooms of which the two most interesting are those in the
17th century part of the house. Each has a simple plaster ceiling dated about 1620. The
most interesting feature is the cast of the lady (probably Queen Margaret of Scotland)
represented five times in the ceiling of the eastern bedroom. This same plastercast is
repeated in Pinkie House in Musselburgh and at Muchalls Castle just north of Stonehaven.
It is said that these plastercasts were jealously kept by the craftsman who made them. At
the end of his working life the craftsman broke each cast so that noone following him
could use it. Thus a cast from a dated ceiling helps to date other work by the same hand.
From these bedrooms an impression can be gained of the 17th
century garden below. At that time the house and garden would have been an oasis of
comparative peace and quiet in a desolate and war-torn countryside. The armies of Montrose
and Cromwell successively ravaged this district. |
