THE MAIDENS WALK. 1

principal gate, was the drawbridge, which was almost
always raised, and the gate-house, a square building,
having strong towers at each corner. Over the en-
trance and within the square of the gate-house was
an arched vault, and over it was a chamber with
apertures, through which, on occasion of an assault,
the garrison, unseen the whilst, could watch the opera-
tions of the foe, and pour boiling water or melted lead
on the foremost assailants. On the west side were
the outworks, consisting of a platform with a trench
half a mile in length, and breastworks, and covered
ways, and mounds. The roofs of the building were
bordered with parapets, guard walks, and sentry
boxes.

But the whole space was not appropriated to works
intended to ensure the stronghold against the assault
of foes. Near the mound was the chapel dedicated
to St. Giles. Under the outer wall was a military
walk, five yards wide, and forty-eight yards in length.
Underneath the walls, on the brink of the river, wasa
beautiful terrace, called the Maiden’s Walk, where the
lady of the castle and her damsels, after their labours
at the loom, were wont to take air and exercise on a
summer evening, ere the vesper bell rang, and the
bat began to hunt the moth. Within the precincts
of the building was the tiltyard, a broad space en-
closed with rails, and covered with sawdust, where
young men of gentle blood, in the capacity of pages
and squires, acquired the chivalrous accomplishments
which the age prized so highly.

In fact, the castle of Wark, like most feudal castles
of that century, was a school of chivalry, whither