Firstly, thanks to the lovely Elinor, who recently purchased this antique engraving for letting me use her image.

This engraving, probably from the 1830s/1840s shows the rear of the castle, and it’s courtyard.  It also shows many additions made by Charles Mackenzie Fraser from 1814 (when he inherited the castle) to the late 1830s when the work was still going on.  This was mainly to make the castle a more comfortable home for his family.

Worthy of note is the cupola, which housed the grand staircase, and the enlarged lower parts of the wings, which gave at the very least, wider corridors and access, and rooms for some of the servants, i.e. hall boys.  All these additions were demolished in the 1940s (Victorian is so unfashionable, darling!)

So, to the mysterious figures.  Family, friends, servants or visitors?  You decide!