Continued entries/extra info

16 Parish of Dunbog.

[Quotation] Collairnie Castle
"The castle of Collairnie so long the residence of this family is now in ruins, but sufficient still remains, to show its ancient extent and grandeur. It appears to have formed a large square enclosing an ample court-yard, with lofty square towers at the four corners. One of the towers, and portions of the old walls are all that is now left. The court-yard forms the farm-yard of Henry Walker the tenant of the land, and a part of the old buildings still remaining is occupied as a barn. Above the entrance from the court-yard to the tower are the initials " D. B." and " M. W.," and the date " 1581." It seems highly probable, however, that the date of the erection of the building is much older, as the door-way over which this date is placed has every appearance of having been altered from what it originally was ; and it was a very
common practice for proprietors of castles when making alterations to put up their own initials and the date of the alterations. The roofs of two rooms which occupy the second and third flats of the tower are worthy of notice, from their being divided into compartments on which are emblazoned the arms of the family, and of the various families with which they were connected. The colouring has been bright and vivid ; but is now greatly faded, and fast becoming indistinct. With some trouble, however, we were still able to make out what the majority of the families were whose arms were thus displayed. Besides the arms, there were several inscriptions on both roofs which however, with the exception of a few words, are almost entirely effaced." Leighton's history of Fife, Vol, II [Volume 2] p. 93.