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

DUNVEGAN CASTLE 191
he built the great ' lummie,' the tourelle, the small hall
between Rory Mor's wing and the keep, as well as the
very beautiful balcony with stone guns below which still
remains. He also put on a gabled roof. In 1665 he
paid a man named MacWilliam a bill for carting ' 12,700
sleats, and thatching your house with them.' He also
did something to improve the steps up the face of the rock.
In 1790 the General built a hall on the small space avail-
able and, a more important job, joined the keep to Rory
Mor's wing. The small tourelle must have been removed
at this time. In 1840 the twenty-second Chief carried
out even more important alterations. He took away the
lummie and the gabled roof, he raised the walls and put
on a flat lead roof with battlements around it, and he
broke out the large windows which now light the long
passage.
The Front Hall and Drive
I have already described the making of a rude and
inconvenient approach to the castle on the east side.
About 1812 the twenty-first Chief made very important
improvements, most of which stiU remain. He levelled
the rough ground which appears in Grose's picture, and
made a carriage drive. He made the battled mound on
which carriages drive up to the front door. This was
approached over a sham drawbridge, which was taken
away by the twenty-second Chief. The twenty-first
Chief also built the hall and flanking towers at the same
time. These project some distance from the rock, and
their foundations are laid in the ground below. His
porch was flanked by a number of columns which were
taken away by his son. With the exceptions mentioned
above, the front hall and drive remain as he left them.
The coat of arms has been placed over the porch in recent
times. One change which affects the whole castle remains
to be noted.
The tourelles or pepper-pots at the angles of the towers