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Scottish Gardens
Malleny, Midlothian


ALLENY was for long in the possession of a family of Scotts—scions of the house of Buccleuch, Laurence Scott being one of the principal Clerks of Session in the reign of James VI. and I. In 1882 it was sold to Lord Rosebery by Lieut.-Col. F. C. Scott, C.B. It is one of those country seats which the growth of Edinburgh has caused to become suburban in its environment, but it remains delightfully secluded, screened by woodland containing some magnificent sycamores. Unluckily I did not visit it until the late tenants, Sir Thomas and Lady Gibson-Carmichael, had resigned their lease from Lord Rosebery, to whom this place belongs, on Sir Thomas being appointed Governor of Victoria. Thus I missed seeing the garden as it should have been seen, for it was Lady Carmichael's care to fill with bright flowers the framework of quaintly clipped yews which are the legacy of bygone generations, while Sir Thomas had enriched all parts of the grounds with weird creatures wrought in metal, in designing and executing which he has earned such a high reputation. Flowers there were still, but not in the luxuriance of former seasons, and the metal work had nearly all been removed. In one respect Malleny is a model for other mansions, especially in Scotland, where modern architects have been allowed too often to banish the flower-garden to an exorbitant distance from the dwelling-house. Here you step from the ivy-grown house direct among the borders, and all the fleeting phases of the season may be enjoyed from the windows. Thus it should ever be in any garden worthy of the name; and thus it seems to have struck Lord Cockburn, who, writing in 1846, mentions Malleny as one of five curious, old-style gardens remaining in Midlothian. "They are all," he said, "sadly injured now. Except Hutton, they were all small and of the same character—evergreen bushes, terraces, and carved stones."


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