HISTORY OF THE LINLITHGOW 



Mr W. D. Gillon having died in 1846, Wall- 

 house passed to his eldest son, the late Colonel 

 Gillon, who was then about twenty-three years of 

 age. In the following • year Colonel Gillon began 

 to hunt with considerable regularity, and from his 

 diary ^ some interesting details may be gleaned. 

 It alludes to the inconvenience in getting away 

 from Calder wood caused by the Caledonian line 

 to Carstairs, then newly formed, " 21st October 

 [1847] — The Caledonian railway much stvorn at 

 and abused " ; to Mr Ramsay's being in the field, 

 " SOth October, — Mr Ramsay out and rode for- 

 ward " ; to the hunting of the East Lothian 

 country, " Sth November, — The hounds go to East 

 Lothian till Tuesday 23rd"; and to the practice 

 of "capping," ''•20th December, — No hill to-day 

 and no capping." The diary also records some 

 good sport. It shows that on the 23rd of Decem- 

 ber, from a fixture at Polmont, hounds found 

 in Callendar wood, ran west to Bonnymuir, and 

 thence across a very heavy country, till they 

 were whipped ofi^ at half- past two, after having 

 traversed about eighteen miles, the pace being slow 

 at first, but faster in the afternoon, when, with 

 a threatening of frost, scent probably improved. 

 And a short spell of hard weather appears to have 

 followed, for the next entry records a good day 

 with "a burning scent after the frost." 



"Monday, 3rd January [1848]. — Met at Cbampfleurie gate 

 — a very small field out. Drew all the coverts there blank. 



^ Diary in the possession of Mr Andrew Gillon, Edinburgh. 

 152 



