Matheson Collection > Macleods of Dunvegan from the time of Leod to the end of the seventeenth century

1 88 THE MACLEODS OF DUN VEGAN
twenty-second Chief in 1840 about six feet outside Rory
Mor's wall in order to gain more space inside. On
the west side of the keep this new wall only rises to
the level of the first floor.
The Sea-Gate
About half-way up the rock on its western side opens
the old sea-gate. It is approached by a flight of steps. The
outside of it, with work of three periods visible upon it,
I have already described. The inside is no less interesting.
Indeed this is perhaps the most romantic part of the
castle. Its hoary antiquity appeals to the imagination ;
and one pictures to oneself the many striking scenes
which it must have witnessed when it was the only
entrance to the castle, and more full of life than any
other place in the country.
Imbedded in the masonry behind the door are old hinges
so completely eaten away by rust that it has been neces-
sary to replace them at some period with new ones. This
is a sign of antiquity which I have never observed in any
other old building. A little above the door are the
grooves in which once rose and fell a portcuUis. Above
this one finds oneself in a passage with high walls on
either side, from the top of which missiles could be flung
on the heads of any foes who had forced the gate. In
this passage Ian Dubh murdered his brother and nephew
(see page 95). On the right is the opening of the old
well which still contains water. One ascends partly by
steps, partty by an inclined plane to the courtyard, so an
enemy who had forced the gate would still have to make
his way into the keep. Boswell says that a ruined wall
covered with ivy ran round the edge of the rock in 1773.
The General repaired the wall in 1790. Standing beside
it is a small stone figure. This is variously said to repre-
sent Mary, daughter of the ninth Chief, and Margaret,
wife of Rory Mor. I think the latter supposition more