Corbie-steps, or CROW-STEPS, — Chambers's Encyclopaedia

A black and white line drawing of a stone building, likely a castle or manor house, showing a prominent example of corbie-steps. The steps are built into the gables of the upper floors, creating a series of small, stepped platforms that lead up to the roof. The building has multiple chimneys and windows, and the overall style is characteristic of Scottish architecture. — Corbie-steps, from a house formerly in the Castle-wynd, Edinburgh.

Corbie-steps, or CROW-STEPS, the stepped slopes of gables. This is a Scottish term, derived no doubt from the corbelled or projecting character of the steps, and afterwards corrupted into crow-steps from the resemblance of corbelled to corbie or crow. The origin of this mode of finishing a gable probably arose from the steps used for passing from one side of the roof to another — the parapet defending the passage being stepped in conformity with the slope of the stairs. Crow-steps were the almost invariable finish of Scottish gables from the 14th to the 17th century, and they were also much used on the Continent, especially in the Low Countries.