The solitude and repose of the whole scene seemed almost monastic; and
Waverley, who had given his horse to his servant on entering the first
gate, walked slowly down the avenue, enjoying the grateful and cooling
shade, and so much pleased with the placid ideas of rest and seclusion
excited by this confined and quiet scene, that he forgot the misery and
dirt of the hamlet he had left behind him. The opening into the paved
court-yard corresponded with the rest of the scene. The house, which
seemed to consist of two or three high, narrow, and steep-roofed
buildings, projecting from each other at right angles, formed one side of
the inclosure. It had been built at a period when castles were no longer
necessary, and when the Scottish architects had not yet acquired the art
of designing a domestic residence. The windows were numberless, but very
small; the roof had some nondescript kind of projections, called
bartizans, and displayed at each frequent angle a small turret, rather
resembling a pepper-box than a Gothic watchtower. Neither did the front
indicate absolute security from danger. There were loop-holes for
musketry, and iron stanchions on the lower windows, probably to repel any
roving band of gypsies, or resist a predatory visit from the caterans of
the neighbouring Highlands.
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