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adjoining the gardens of the abbey, and suiTOunded by small hills, tliere ai*e vestiges of a
lai-gc piece of artiflcial water, which has consisted of several acres, and been contrived both
for pleasure and utility. Its banks have been formed by art into walks ; and though now
a bog, you may perceive the remains of a broad green terrace passing tlmough the middle
of it, which has been raised considerably above the water. At the place where it had
been dammed up, and where there are the marks of a sluice, the ruins of a mill arc still
to be seen, which served the inhabitants of the abbey for grinding the corn. Pleasure-
grounds of this kind,” adds Dr. Walker, “ and a method of dressing grain, stiU un practised
in these remote islands, must, no doubt, have been considered, in early times,
as matters of Yeiy liigli refinement.”
600. In the twelfth century, Chalmers informs us (Caledmiia Depicta, vol. i. p. 801.),
“ David I. had a garden at the base of Edinburgh Castle. Tliis king,” he adds,
“ had an opportunity of observing the gardens of England under H eniy I., when Norman
gardening would, no doubt, be prevalent ; ” and we may reasonably suppose that he was
prompted by his genius to profit from the useful, and to adopt the elegant, in that agreeable
ait,
601. During the greater p a r t o f the fourteenth century, Scothnd was in a state of intestine
war ; but in that succeeding, it is generally believed architecture and gardening
were encouraged by the Jameses. James I., as we have seen (551.), admired the gardens
of Windsor, in 1420; and having been in love there, and m a r r i e d an Englishwoman,
would in all probability imitate them. He is described in the Chronicles o f Scotland as
“ an excellent man, and an accomplished scholar. A t his leisure hours he not only indulged
liimself in music, in reading and writing, in drawing and painting ; hut, when
the circumstances of time and place, and the taste and manners of those about him, made
it proper, he would sometimes instruct them in the art of onltivating kitchen and plcasm-e
gardens, and of planting and engrafting different kinds of frait trees.” (Scotichron,
lib. xvi. cap. 30.) This proves the advanced state of horticulture in England at that
period ; as it was in England that James must have obtained his knowledge.
602. In the middle o f the fifteenth century, James III. is described hy Pitscottie as
“ delighting more in music and polioie (probably from the Erench polir, to remove, level,
or improve ; or fi-om a con-uption of se polir, to improve one’s self, levelling and smoothing
the grounds about a house, being natiu-ally tho first step after it is built), and building,
than ho did in the government of his realm.” The general residence of this monarch
was Stirling Castle ; and a piece of waste surface in the vale below is said to ha-re heen
the site o fth e royal gardens. Enough remains to justify a conjecture, that a t this early
period they displayed as much skill as those of any other country. We allnde to a platform
of eai-th resembling a table, sm-rounded by tu rf seats, or steps rising in gradation ;
the scene, no doubt, of rural festivities. Tbe intimate connection which subsisted about
this time’ between the Scots and the Erench, would, no doubt, render whatever was
fashionable in one countiy, fasliionahle in the other. Accordingly, we find, not only the
Erench style of gardening and architectm-e to have prevailed in Scotland at this period,
and for two centuries later ; but Erench flirnisliing and cookery, Erench manners, and,
in the language, the adoption of a munber of Erench words and idioms.
603. In the middle o f the sixteenth century, the Regent Mmvay had a garden in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh, which existed in 1819, bnt is now covered with bmldings.
I t contained some venerable pear trees, a magnifloont weeping thorn tree of great age,
and the remains of elm-bowers, which, says Neill, had doubtless, in their time, sheltered
the fair Queen of Scots. (Hart. Tour, &c., p. 226.)
604. C e r c a r e various remains o f gardens o f the ffte e n th and sixteenth centuries tn
Scotland. A t the palace of Falkland is a large square enclosure, on a dull flat, in whicli
there exist o n lj a few stunted ash trees, though the boundary stone wall is still a formidable
fence. The gardens of Holyrood House appeal’ to have been exceedingly confined ;
the boundary wall only remains ; and there arc some indications of the rows of trees which
stood in the park, which seems to have extended to the base of the adjoining hill,
Arthur’s Seat. The palace of Scone, we learn from Adamson, a poet of the seventeenth
centmy, was suiTounded by “ gardens and orchards, flowers and fraits ; ” and the paik,
in which are still some ancient trees, “ abounded in the hart and fallow deer.”
Generally a few old trees in rows adjoin the other royal residences, and oldest baronial
castles ; but they give no indications of the extent to which a rt was carried in tlieii* disposition.
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605. During the seventeenth century, a few gardens must have been formed in Scotlana.
About the end of this century, the grounds of the Duke of Hamilton were planted, in
all probability by a French artist. The design of Chatelherault, an ornamental object
in the park of Hamilton, is named after, aud formed in imitation of, the residence of
that illustrious family in Fi’ance, laid out by Le Nôtre.
606. About the beginning o f the eighteenth century, the Ea rl of Lauderdale is said to
have sent plans, sections, and sacks of earth from his domain at Hatton, to London and
Wise, iu London ; and these ai’tists, it is added, formed a plan, aud sent down a gardener
to superintend its execution. Hatton, in 1805, was a fine old p la c e ; though it had long
changed its possessor.
607. English artists were employed in Scotland during this century. Switzer, Laivrence,
and Langley mention, in their works, that they were frequently sent for into Scotland to
give plans of improvement. Switzer appeal’s to have resided a considerable time in
Edinburgh, as he there published, in 1717, a tract on draining, and other usefol and
agi-icultural improvements. The Earls of Stafr and of Haddington (who wrote on
trees), both great planters, about this time, probably consulted th em ; as would, perhaps,
Fletcher of Saltoun, the proprietors of Dundas Castle, Barnton, Saughton Hall, Gogar,
and pai-ticularly Craigie Hall, a residence laid out with much ai’t and taste, and next in
rank in these respects to Hatton. New Liston, Dalkeith House, Hopetoun House, and
various other places nemr Edinbm-gh, arc also in Switzer’s style. New Liston and Hopetoun
House, planted, we believe, from 1735 to 1740, were probably the last considerable
seats laid out in the ancient style in Scotland.
608. Tke modem style was f r s t introduced into Scotland by the celehrated Lord Karnes,
who, some time between 1760 and 1770, displayed it on his own residence at Blair
Drammond. An irregular ridge, leading from the house, was laid out in walks, commanding
a view, over the shrubs on the declivity, of portions of distant prospect. One
part of this scene was composed entirely of evergreens, and formed an agreeable winter
garden. Lord Karnes did not entirely reject the ancient style, either at Blair Drummond,
or in his Essay on Gardening and Architecture, pubhshed in the Elements o f
Criticism. In that short but comprehensive essay, he shows an acquaintance %vith the
Chinese style, and with the practice of K e n t; admits both of absolute and relative beauty
as the objects of gardening and architecture; and from this complex destination, accounts
for that difference and wavering of taste in these arts, “ gi-eater than in any a rt that has
but a single destination.” (VoL ii. p. 431. 4th edit. 1769.)
609- Lord Karnes’s example in Scotland may be compared to that of Hamilton or Shenstone
in England : it was not generally followed, because it was not generally understood.
That the Elements o f Criticism, though long since obsolete as such, tended much to purify
the taste of the reading class in Scotland at that time, there can be no doubt. Every
person also admired Blah* Drammond ; but as eveiy countiy gentleman could not bestow
sufficient time and attention to gardening to be able to lay out his own place, it became
necessary to have recourse to artists ; and, as it happened, those who were employed had
acquired only that habit of mechanical imitation which copies the most obvious forms,
without understanding the trae merits of the original. In short, they were itinerant
pupils of Brown, or professors in his school, who resided in Scotland; and thus it is, that
after commencing in the best taste, Scotland continued for many years to patronise tho
very worst.
610. The grounds o f Duddingston House may be referred to as a contrast to the style o f
Blair Drummond; and as a proof of what we have asserted in regai-d to the kind of
modern landscape-gardening introduced to Scotland. Tliis seat was laid out about the
year 1770. The architect of the house was Sir William Chambers; the name of the
rural artist, whose original plans we have examined, was Robinson, nephew to the king’s
gardener of that name, sent down from London. We know of no example in any
countiy of so perfect a specimen of Brown’s manner, nor of one in which the effect
of the whole, and the details of every particulai- part, are so consistent, and co-operate
so well together in producing a sort of tame, spiritless beauty, of which we cannot
give a distinct idea. I t does not resemble avowed art, nor yet natural sceneiy; it seems,
indeed, as if nature had commenced the work, and changed her plan, determining no
longer to add to her productions those luxuriant and seemingly superfluous appendages
which produce variety and grace. The trees here, all planted at the same time, and of
the same age, seem to gi-ow by rule. The clumps remind us of regularly tufted perukes.
The waters of the same river neither dai-e to sink within nor to overflow its b an k s; the
clumps kept at a respectful distance; and the serpentine turns of the roads and walks
seem to hint that every movement to be made here must correspond.
igston, we suppose, may exceed 200 acres. T h e house is placed on an eminence
in the centre, from which the grounds descend on three sides, and on th e remaining side continue on a
level till they reach the 'boundary belt. This belt completely encircles th e whole ; it is from 50 to 200
feet wide, with a tu rf drive in the middle. One part near the house is richly varied by shrubs and
flowers, and kept as garden scenery, in th e rest the tu rf is mown, but the ground untouched. A string
of wavy canals, on different levels, joined cascades, enter a t one side of th e grounds, and taking a
circuitous sweep through th e park, pass off at the other. This water creates occasion for Chinese
bridges, islands, and cascades. The kitchen-garden and offices are placed behind the house, and concealed
by ama ss of plantation. Over the rest of the grounds are distributed numerous oval unconnected
clumps, and some single trees. In the drive are several temples and covered seats, placed in
situations where are caught views of the house, sometimes seen between two clumps, and a t other
times between so many as to form a perspective or avenue. There is also a temple on the top of a hill,
partly artificial, which forms th e object from several of these seats, and from other open glades or
vistas left in the inside of the belt. The outer margin of this plantation is every where kept perfectly
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