160 



GARDENS OLD 



THE HALF-CIRCLE. 



As in all old Scotcli parks, the trees are noteworthy at 

 Drumlanrig. Two Scotch firs in Auchenaight Wood are 

 remarkable, and some of the yew trees are still larger. An 

 oak tree, which grew on the edge of what is known as Gallows 

 Flat, is probably the oldest tree in the park. The woods of 

 Drumlanrig were glorious in the eighteenth century, but before 

 its close their knell had been sounded. They perished at the 

 bidding of iniquitous "Old Q.," fourth Duke of Queensberry, 

 whose memory remains as the type of an old roue " That 

 polish'd, sin-worn fragment of the court." It is said that he 

 denuded his grounds at Drumlanrig, and round Niedpath 

 Castle, near Peebles, about 1798, in order to furnish a dowry 

 for Maria Fagniani on her marriage to the Earl of Yarmouth. 

 He believed the lady to be his daughter, and a like idea of 

 paternity also induced George Selwyn to bestow upon her a 

 large fortune, though malicious tongues averred that both of 

 them were deceived. 



Thus did Wordsworth pour indignation on the Duke of 

 Queensberry's wicked old head : 



" Degenerate Douglas; oh, the unworthy I,ord! 

 Whom mere despite of heart could so far please, 

 And love of havoc (for with such disease 

 l ; ame taxes him), that he could send forth word 

 To level with the dust a noble horde, 

 A brotherhood of venerable trees, 

 Leaving an ancient dome and towers like these 

 Beggared and outraged ! Many hearts deplored 

 The fate of these old trees; and oft with pain 

 The traveller, at this day, will stop and gax.e 

 On wrongs which Nature scarcely seems to heed; 

 For sheltered places, bosoms, nooks, and bogs, 

 And the pure mountains, and the gentle Tweed, 

 And the silent pastures, yet remain." 



And Burns denounced the degenerate Duke also, in 

 verses, wherein he describes the waving woods as fancy 

 painted them, and demanded of his interlocutor whence came 

 the destruction. 



" Old Q." died before his work was done, but he had cut 

 down the wood on one side of the Yeochan ; on the other side 

 it still remains. Many stories are told of the destruction. 

 One is to the effect that the Earl of Dalkeith, who inherited 

 the estate from the destroyer, hearing what was going on, 

 bought back some of the trees from the company which had 

 purchased them. The gentry round endeavoured to ?ave 

 them, and Sir Charles Mentieth used to say that he bought 

 back the oak tree near the castle. The despoiled estate came 

 into the hands of Henry Duke of Buccleuch in 1810, and he at 

 once undertook the work of replanting and of restoring what 

 had perished, with excellent effect, for Nature, ever kindly, 

 has, as Wordsworth long since suggested, forgotten " Old Q.," 

 and the woods and gardens are rich and admirably kept. 

 A fine avenue of lime trees runs down from the castle, and 

 tradition says that Charles Duke of Queensberry, who formed 

 it, was having the ground levelled with the intention of 

 carrying the avenue forward for upwards of a mile, when he 

 heard that his son Henry had met with an untimely end, 

 whereupon in his sorrow he desisted, and not until a century 

 later was his idea carried into execution. The finest oak in 

 the park is a grand patrician tree, st.mding apart from all its 

 kind, more than 83ft. high, with a girth, at 4ft. from the 

 ground, of I4ft. 6in., and a spread of branches of cjoft. 

 Another fine oak is at the foot of the hill close to the 

 castle. There are magnificent beeches also, and grand 

 sycamores and limes, which were spared the work of the 

 destroyer's hand. Formerly a herd of wild cattle roamed the 

 park, described by Pennant in 1770 as retaining primeval 

 savageness and ferocity combined with timidity descendants 

 of the old Unas sylvestris, it is supposed. How the herd died 

 out is not known. 



In every way a grand, characteristic, and beautiful 

 domain is that of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry at 

 Drumlanrig. 



