There are two kinds of et English and Scottish, used in Great Britain, of very distinct characters.
The old English cottages were constructed of clay, turf :nit] other similar materials, supported and strengthened by posts and wooden braces, with a roof of very steep pitch, in order to lessen its pressure upon the walls, and to discharge the rain. The caves of the roof were continued downwards, so that the projection might throw the water from the surface onhe walls, and by this means prevent not only the waste of materials, but the dampness which the interior would other wise be liable to; the raill.•ater is also thus kept from the windows and door. The chimneys were generally carried up singly, in one or both ends of the building, most commonly on the outside of the wall. The covering of the roof con sisted principally of straw, reeds, or slate-stone. Garrets ,sere sometimes thrilled in the roof, with a window, either in the sloping sides. or in one of the gables. In consequence of the lowness of the side-wall, and to give sufficient light, the horizontal dimension of the window was much greater than the height. The long bearing of the lintel, or head of the window, was supported in the middle by an upright piece of timber, called a munition. The g-lass-frames were inade to revolve upon hinges with a vertical axis, glazed with small squares of glass. inserted in lead, and stiffened by cross pieces of wood, or frequently iron, called saddle-bars ; the form of toe squares sometimes rectangular, but frequently rhomboidal, and the lead into which they were inserted fixed to an iron frame. To this construction the cottager frequently added a small shed, Mr keeping a cow, and sometimes one or more hovels to the end of the side, which might be used as a pan try, or as a place wherein to deposit his tools, or other arti of convenience. It is probable that cottages were at first built of a story only ; but. in course of time, they were constructed two stories in height, and as the lower story could not then be protected by the roof, a projection of wood or slate-stone was introduced over the lower apertures, to pre vent the rain-water from falling upon the wall. To make these projections ornamental, they were formed into labels of hewn-stone, after the manner of those in Gothic edifices.
The width of the English cottage does not admit of more than one room : the chimneys are variously ornamented, some times several dues are united in one shaft, which is built in a %ariety of laneilid forms, and sometimes several shafts are carried up separate-ly, and united under one cope.
The best English cottages, of late, have been generally constructed of brick, and covered with slate : and the use of these materials has changed the external features very con siderably. though the general disposition of the parts remains much the same.
The roofs of many English cottages are partly gabled and pat t ly hipped ; and in general the roof is extended at both ends, so ai to oversail the gables: the projection thus afford ing protection to the walls in the same manner as the eaves over the front and rear walls ; by this means the gable-tops, tieing under cover, are less liable to want repair. The walls of English cottages are generally adorned, either by white washing or colouring the walls; or with creepers of vari ous kind:.
The Scottish cottages differ considerably in form and fea tures fi-om the English. not only in being generally con. stringed of stone, which is the material most easily pr a lied in the country, but from their being so wide as to admit oftwo apartments ; and being colninonly one story only in It One of these circumstances is sufficient to occasion a dissimilarity when eInnpa•V(1 the proportion of the Eng lish cottage, in making the roof top-heavy, and t he appearance of the building squat ; and o hen both are united, this effect will lie still more apparent.
In the Scottish cottage, the roof has only a very small I lro jeetion over the walls; thew inflows and doors are general: plain ; the gables most frequently surmount the roof; the (b)ors and windows are therefore not so well pro tected from rain as in the cottage ; but this want of projection is counterbalaneed by the great thickness of the walls, and by the narrowness of the windows, which are made to slide in a vertical position, in grooves on the sides of a surrounding- frame.