I saw before me a gloomy stronghold of brick, four-square, and built in the old Italian manner, with battlements at the top, and a small machicolation, little more than a string-course, above each story; this serving at once to lessen the monotony of the dead-walls, and to add to the frowning weight of the upper part.
"Historical Romances: Under the Red Robe, Count Hannibal, A Gentleman of France"
Stanley J. Weyman