Death & Destruction

Just an ornament now but when it was cast in 1716 it was a serious piece of military hardware.
I believe these mortars could fire a solid ball or an explosive shell.

Judging the length of the fuse for the shell and then firing the thing at the enemy must have been hazardous for the gunner as well as the target.

This was taken at Culzean Castle which is a Stately home rather than a fortress in Ayrshire
Robert Burns, the Ayrshire poet wrote about the people who lived here in his day.
 'The sun it o'er hangs these moors outspreading far and wide , where hundreds labour to support some haughty lording's  pride'