72 SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. 



the list of sumptuous edifices. After the attainder of the noble proprietor 

 for the part he took in the rebelhon of 1715, the rich fui-niture, and other costly 

 materials, with which the mansion was profusely supplied, were sold by the 

 agents of government, and the walls stripped of their magnificent collection of 

 paintings, some of which, as already stated, are now part of the gallery of 

 Dunse Castle. 



Gosford House, a seat of the earl of Wemyss, is a commanding object in 

 the distance — particularly from the sea, which ^ives fine relief to the white 

 marble-looking fasgade — and is in every respect a structure of elegant propor- 

 tions, and great architectural solidity. Its internal decoration and arrangement 

 correspond with its imposing exterior, and afford a striking specimen of the 

 country residence of a Scottish nobleman.* 



Lethington, the seat of Lord Blantyre, is a melange of ancient and modern 

 architecture. Of the former, its time-enduring tower presents a rare speci- 

 men of the domestic fortress, at a period when family security depended less 

 on the good faith of treaties, than on the strength of its walls, and number 

 of retainers. It was long the fortified residence of the Giffords, from whom 

 it passed, by purchase, to the Maitlands, about the end of the fourteenth 

 century, and continued to be their principal seat, till John, duke of Lauderdale, 

 selected for his residence the more princely domain of Thirlestane Castle. 



The park, for which this mansion claims precedency over so many of its neigh- 

 bours, is said to have been enclosed by the proprietor, in answer to a question 

 put to him by the unfortunate successor of Charles II., namely — " Whether 

 the report were true that the poverty of Scotland denied the luxury of a deer- 

 park?" The royal duke, then projecting a visit to Scotland, was invited to 

 judge for himself; while Lauderdale, piqued for the honour of his country, 

 hastened home, and had upwards of three hundred acres enclosed by a wall, 



• Important alterations, however, either in contemplation, or in progress, have been rendered necessary 

 by the discovery of dry-rot, a disease which lias made alarming progress in some of the finest buildings in 

 the kingdom. — The dry-rot in houses is a parasite of fir, called voletos lachrymans ; the fungus appears to 

 grow on the timber, and extract its cohesive property. The same disease in ships is a large leaiher-likc 

 fungus, with the characteristic name of Xylostroma giganteiim. 



Taken alphabetically, the principal residences, with the exception of those under notice, are Amisfield, 

 seat of the earl of Wemyss; Archerfield, that of the Nesbit family; Anderston, remarkable as a place of 

 remote antiquity; BallincriefT, the seat of Lord Elibank; North-Berwick House, that of Sir H. D. Dal- 

 Tymple, Bart,; Broxmoulh, belonging to the duke of Roxburghe ; Congleton, Grant; Dirleton, Nesbit; 

 Fountain Hall, Dick ; Gilmerton, Kinloch; Newheath, llaird ;' Ormiston Hall, earl of Hopeton ; Pencait- 

 land, Hamilton ; Salton Hall, Fletcher ; Spott, Hay ; Tyningham, earl of Haddington ; Wemyss House, a 

 third seat of the earl of Wemyss ; Whittingham, Hay, of Drumelzier ; Yester House, marquis of Tuecdale ; 

 with various recent structures of beauty and elegance. 



I 



