Gallery ceiling before restoration
SC 747707
Description Gallery ceiling before restoration
Date 1889
Collection Papers of Erskine Beveridge, antiquarian, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Catalogue Number SC 747707
Category On-line Digital Images
Copy of F 2000
Scope and Content Ceiling, Long Gallery, Earlshall, Leuchars, Fife (now restored) Earlshall, a 16th-century tower-house built for Sir William Bruce in 1546 and completed for his great-grandson and namesake in 1617, had, by the late 19th century, fallen into a semi-ruinous state. The Long Gallery, which occupies the whole of the second floor of the main block of the house, was photographed c.1890 by Erskine Beveridge before being 'carefully and judiciously restored' in 1891-8 by the architect, Sir Robert Lorimer. The ceiling is an elliptical vault constructed of deal boarding which is carried down over the upper part of the side walls to form a frieze. Both the ceiling and frieze are painted in tempera, with elaborate decorations in black, white and grey. The ceiling is covered with rows of circular or square panels, linked by scroll-work, which contain the coats-of-arms of the great families of Israel, Europe, and Scotland, and animal subjects taken from the natural history of the time. The frieze has an arcade of pilasters and flat arches, with short pithy saying painted in Roman letters within the arches. Only a few of the 20 or 30 sayings which originally existed are legible. The round panels contain the coats-of-arms, with the mottoes of many of the Scottish families. For example, the round panel in the centre of the photograph bears the arms of Lord Cathcart, and his family motto: 'I hoip to speed'. The square compartments contain representations of animals, both real and imaginary, such as the lion, chameleon, sphinx and hydra, with the name of each creature printed in Roman letters. An otter (left) and a ram (right) both appear in the second bottom row. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.
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