Field Visit
Date 29 October 2017
Event ID 1043951
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1043951
Graffiti, both historic and modern, have been recorded at Hailes Castle. In the hall it mainly comprises names, sets of initials and/or dates, carved into the soft sandstone of the window surrounds, but also elsewhere. Of particular interest at the NE end of the hall is the carving ‘A MELVILLE 1871’, which has been cut into the first floor level plasterwork of the NW wall. It is very likely that this was carved by Arthur Melville (1855-1904), a renowned Scottish artist who in 1871 was a 16 year old apprentice grocer living in nearby East Linton (https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/arthur-melville) accessed 20 November 2018).
More recent graffiti also takes the form of incisions in the sandstone surrounds of the windows, as well as elsewhere, but it is not as neatly executed as the 19th century carvings. The recent graffiti also includes the use of marker pens on the wooden lintel of the doorway at the NE end of the SE side-wall.
Visited by HES Survey and Recording (JRS) 29 Oct 2017.
