628 Domestic Notices : — Scotland. 



by our correspondent Mr. Gregor of Forres ; and plants of the gigantic flax, 

 and of Madia sativa, by Mr. Lawson of Edinburgh. A variety of drumhead 

 cabbage was recommended by the judges, for cottagers living in high situations. 

 — Cond. 



Country Seats in the Neighbourhood of Inverness. — Cantray, the Seat of 

 General Sir John Rose, was laid out by the grandfather of that gentleman ; 

 who, though he had chiefly resided in London, yet astonished his neighbour 

 by the judgment and spirit with which he entered upon a course of extensive 

 agricultural improvement. {Inverness Courier, Sept. 18. 1839.) 



Holm, built by the late Colonel Hugh Rose, has a lawn of about fifty acres 

 in extent, which descends close to the river, with the walks finely laid out. 

 The present proprietor, General Sir John Rose, continues the system of 

 embellishment begun by his predecessor. (Ibid.) 



Kilravock is a castellated pile, with a strong square tower built in 1460. 

 The structure altogether resembles a French chateau, high-roofed, and 

 blending the manor-house with the castle. This family have been great 

 planters for many generations, and accordingly the grounds abound in large 

 trees; one of which, admired by Burns when he visited Kilravock in 1787, 

 is known as Burns's Oak. The trunk near the ground is about 15 ft. in 

 circumference. At the time Burns visited Kilravock, it was occupied by the 

 proprietress Mrs. Rose ; but the representative of this family is now in India. 

 The castle, however, has fortunately, for the last nine or ten years, been 

 occupied by an English lady, Mrs. Campbell, who has evinced no less taste 

 than munificence in adorning the ancient chateau, and heightening the natural 

 beauties of the spot. In addition to many substantial improvements in build- 

 ing, draining, planting, &c, which have been carried into effect by this lady, 

 a new approach has been formed from the east, winding up the river side, 

 and another carriage road to the castle has been made from the west, super- 

 seding the stiff, abrupt, straight road which formerly led down to it. The lawn 

 has been extended and improved ; unsightly walls and incumbrances have been 

 displaced ; and a flower-garden has been constructed of the most exquisite 

 description ; the smooth shaven turf (on which no leaf nor twiglet is suffered 

 to intrude) being studded with beds of dahlias and other rich exotics. At 

 the bottom of this floral retreat, which forms a continuation of the lawn, is 

 the " fairy walk." It is shaded by splendid lime and beech trees, and a 

 chestnut of great dimensions, such as Salvator Rosa would have delighted to 

 paint. Mary Queen of Scots stopped at Kilravock on her return from 

 Inverness, in the course of her hurried journey to the north in 1562. The 

 proprietor at this time was a Hugh orHutcheon Rose, the eighth laird. (Ibid.) 



Cawdor Castle is about three miles beyond Kilravock, and is too well known 

 to require commemoration. Its noble situation on the banks of a rapid 

 stream, encompassed by trees of gigantic size, with the varied and beautiful 

 walks that intersect the grounds, extending to ten miles in length, afford 

 ample materials for the pencil of artists, and the notebooks of tourists. " The 

 whole of Cawdor Castle," says Mr. Fraser Tytler, " is peculiarly calculated 

 to impress the mind with a retrospect of past ages, feudal customs, and deeds 

 of darkness. Its iron-grated doors, its ancient tapestry hanging loosely over 

 secret doors and hidden passages, its winding staircases, its rattling draw- 

 bridge, all conspire to excite the most gloomy imagery in the mind." The 

 tower is about four centuries old, and is built on a rock, from which springs 

 the well-known hawthorn tree inside the tower, shooting up its stem to the 

 vaulted roof. This tree was undoubtedly growing before the erection of the 

 tower, and is, perhaps, the oldest hawthorn in Scotland. (Ibid.) 



Castle Stewart, a Seat of the Earl of Moray, near Inverness, was built about 

 1620. It is a capacious and lordly pile, well worthy of restoration. About 

 twelve or fifteen years since, Earl Moray had the misfortune to have a local 

 factor, who waged war with all the woods. He cut down the forest trees, 

 destroyed the orchard, ploughed up the lawn, and left Castle Stewart a bare 

 and portionless member of the baronial family. (Ibid.) 



