SCOTTISH GARDENS 



a terraced garden lies close up to the castle wall, 

 providing a fascinating foreground to the majestic 

 grouping of the Pentland range. A bridle path 

 climbs the shaggy brae from a ford on the river 

 to the castle gate, and an avenue of limes in the 

 bottom rear their lofty tops, yet not so high as to 

 intercept the view from the terrace. 



All this rare amenity was sacrificed when, about 

 the end of the eighteenth century, the Colinton 

 estates were broken up and this portion was bought 

 by Sir William Forbes, an Edinburgh banker, who 

 deliberately caused the old castle to be dismantled, 

 and built himself a commodious, but unromantic, 

 mansion a couple of hundred yards away, shutting 

 himself out of sight of the wooded valley, the 

 delectable terrace and garden, and even of the 

 towering Pentland Hills. On the death of Sir 

 William Forbes, Colinton House was purchased by 

 James, third son of General Sir Ralph Abercromby. 

 He was elected Speaker in 1835, and was created 

 Lord Dunfermline in 1839. Dying in 1868, he left 

 Colinton to his only child, the wife of Colonel J. M. 

 Trotter. 



The garden remains as of yore, smiling up to 

 the sightless windows of the keep, and lovingly 

 tended by its present owners, Colonel and Mrs. 

 Trotter of Colinton. It has long been noted for 

 the magnificent holly hedges which enclose it, whereof 

 Joseph Sabine, F.R.S., contributed a detailed descrip- 

 tion to the Horticultural Society of London in 1827 



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