BABERTON 



MIDLOTHIAN 



ABERTON is a typical example of the 

 kind of country residence erected in 

 the eighteenth century by professional 

 men whose business lay in the metro- 

 polis at a time when all classes in 

 Scotland were beginning to feel the beneficial effects 

 of the legislative union between the richer and the 

 poorer realm. Whether that be the origin of this 

 pretty demesne or not, I know not for certain, 

 having had access to no records of the past of 

 Baberton ; but the house, viewed from outside, 

 appears to be of the date indicated, with some 

 pleasing architectural features characterising that 

 period. Since its foundation, Edinburgh has spread 

 far beyond her pristine limits, and the district has 

 become thoroughly suburban ; but the owners of 

 Baberton have managed to keep their neighbours at 

 ample distance ; only a golf course impinges upon 

 the south side of their demesne, which remains a 

 silvan oasis in the surrounding labyrinth of villadom. 

 The garden lies within walls in the fold of a 



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