Interior and Exterior Elevations, Section and Plan of Arrow slit in West tower, partly reconstructed Lorn Inv. Fig. 186

Description Interior and Exterior Elevations, Section and Plan of Arrow slit in West tower, partly reconstructed Lorn Inv. Fig. 186

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 360352

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of DC 3588

Scope and Content Partially restored plans and drawings of arrow-loop in west tower of Dunstaffnage Castle, at the mouth of Loch Etive, Argyll Dunstaffnage Castle was built before 1275 by the MacDougall lords of Lorn and taken from them by Robert Bruce after a battle and a siege around 1309. The first Campbell Earl of Argyll became custodian in 1321-2. This is one of the arrow-loops on the first floor of the west tower which housed the prison. The wooden-lintelled embrasure is large enough for an archer to stand in. The loop is fish-tailed, meaning it widens at the bottom. The crossbow and the longbow were used during the Wars of Independence. The crossbow was slower at reloading but had a longer range than the longbow which was mainly used by Welsh mercenaries in English pay. Both could punch through a knight's armour. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap