CHAPTER I.
T H E CA S TLE.
HE historical incidents narrated in the earlier
part of the work, exhibit the Castle of
Edinburgh as the nucleus round which the town Tg#&g
l _ _ _ l _ ~ _
has gradually arisen. Notwithstanding the numerous sieges which it has stood, the
devastations to which it has been subjected by successive conquerors, and above all, the
total changes in its defences, consequent on the alterations introduced in modern warfare,
it &ill contains remains of an earlier date than any that are to be found in the
ancient capital.
The main portion of the fortifications, however, must be referred to a period subsequent
to the siege in 1572, when it was surrendered by Sir 'CVilliam Kirkcaldy, after it had been
reduced nearly to a heap of ruins. In a report furnished to the Board of Ordnance, from
documents preserved in that department, it appears that, in 1574 (only two years after
the siege), the governor, George Douglas of Parkhead, repaired the walls, and built the
half-moon battery, OIL the site, it may be presumed, of David's Tower, which wag
demolished in the course of the siege.' Tradition affixes the Protector's name to a small
tower, with crow-stepped gables, built to the east of the great draw-well, forming the
highest point of this battery. It is, without doubt, a building erected long before Crom-
MS. Report, R M'Kerlie, Esq., Ordnance Office, wherein it is further stated that,-"In 1675, the Citadel contained
eight distinct Towers, fronting the Old Town and south-west, and twelve buildings were outside the Citadel but
within the walla, eight of which were in a castellated form."
VIaNsmE-Edinburgh castle, from a drawing by T. Sandby, about 1750.
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