KELLIE CASTLE 



In no place that I have visited does the fleeting 

 present, represented by dainty flowers, appear more 

 closely interwoven with an enduring past, embodied 

 in venerable building, than at Kellie Castle. 

 Standing in the midst of that fertile champaign 

 known as the East Neuk o' Fife, this impressive 

 fortalice so smiling on its sunward side so grim 

 and boding on its northern presents externally 

 much the same aspect as it did before Scotland 

 and England became one realm. Its very environ- 

 ment speaks of a simpler, less affluent age than ours. 

 Here is no far-reaching park, ambitiously planned to 

 yield its lord the impression that the sun and stars 

 circle in the heavens for his sole behoof. Only a 

 narrow belt of aged trees girdles the modest 

 "policies," with cultivated farm-land coming up to 

 the very garden wall, as you may see around many 

 substantial chateaux in France. Nor does the vener- 

 able grove contain any of those modern conifers 

 whereof the indiscriminate use has done so much 

 to mar many a pretty pleasure ground. One 

 solitary larch seems almost to apologise for its alien 

 presence among lofty beech and ash trees, massive 

 sycamores, and wych elms. 



Before explaining the felicitous circumstance 

 which has preserved the true character of this fine 

 old house, a few notes upon its past may enable 

 the visitor to appreciate the intelligent taste of its 

 present occupants. Originally the principal mes- 

 suage of the family of Seward or Siward, it passed 



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