BALCASKIE 



Equidistant from Pittenweem and St. Monan's, in Fifeshire, and a 

 mile from the sea, stands Balcaskie, the beautiful home of Sir Ralph 

 Anstruther. 



The park is entered from the north by a fine gateway with stone 

 piers bearing "jewelled " balls, dating from the later middle of the 

 seventeenth century. The entrance road is joined by two others from 

 east and west, all passing through a park of delightful character. The 

 road leads straight through a grassy forecourt walled on the three outer 

 sides by yew hedges, and reaches the door by a gravelled half-circle 

 formed by the projection on either side, of the curved walls of the offices 

 and stables. The house, of the middle seventeenth century, though just 

 too late to have been built as a fortress, retains much of the character of 

 the older Scottish castles, but adds to it the increased comfort and com- 

 modiousness of its own time. There have been considerable later 

 additions and alterations, but much of the old still remains, including 

 some rooms with very interesting ceilings. 



The main entrance on the north leads straight through to a door to 

 the garden on the south. The garden occupies a space equal to about 

 five times the length of the house-front. The ground falls steeply, 

 something like fifty feet in all, and is boldly terraced into three levels. 

 Looking southward from the door and across the garden, the eye passes 

 down a great vista between trees in the park to the Firth of Forth, and 

 across it to the Bass Rock, some twelve miles away and near the further 

 shore. 



The upper garden level, reached from the house by a double flight of 

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