]\rarch  l2.  1903. 
JOURiVAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
225 
General  view  of  kitchen  garden  and  gardener’s  house 
of  Llagdelene  de  Valois,  Queen  of  James  V.  Sir  Thomas  ■ 
Hope  was  Lord  Advocate  of  Scotland  in  the  reign  of  ; 
Charles  I.,  and  King’s  Commissioner  to  the  General  Assem¬ 
bly  of  164:1,  a  position  never  occupied  before,  or  since,  by  a 
commoner.  Sir  Thomas  had  three  sons.  Sir  John  Hope, 
the  eldest  son,  was  appointed  a  senator  by  the  title  of 
Craighall  in  1632  and  1641  ;  Sir  Thomas,  the  second  son, 
who  was  appointed  also  in  1641  by  the  title  of  Lord  Kerse  ; 
and  Sir  John  Hope,  who  was  appointed  by  the  designation 
of  Lord  Hopetoun. 
In  1678,  this  first  Lord  Hopetoun  purchased  from  Sir 
Will  iam  Seton  the  barony  of  Abercorn,  and  about  the  same 
time,  or  earlier,  he  was  anpointed  hereditary  sheriff  of  Lin¬ 
lithgowshire.  Being  drowned  in  1682,  in  the  wreck  of  the 
frigate  Gloucester,  which  so  nearly  proved  fatal  to  the  Duke 
of  York,  brother  of  King  Charles  11. ,  his  sheriffalty  lay  in 
abeyance  for  his  son  Charles,  who  was  born  only  the  pre¬ 
ceding  year. 
In  1702  Charles  became  sheriff  in  his  own  right,  and  in 
1703  was  created  Earl  of  Hopetoun,  Viscount  Airthrie  and 
Baron  Hope.  In  1742  he  was  succeeded  in  hi-  office  and 
titles  by  his  son  John.  In  1809  James,  the  third  Earl,  was 
raised  to  the  peerage  of  the  United  Kingdom  by  the  title  of 
Baron  Hopetoun,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  his  half-brother, 
the  renowned  General  Sir  John  Hope,  who  was  in  turn 
created  Baron  of  Niddry  of  Niddry  Castle  in  1814.  This  dis¬ 
tinguished  nobleman  and  hero  of  many  battles  died  in  1823. 
The  present  owner  of  Hopetoun  was  the  seventh  earl, 
until  his  return  from  the  Governor-Generalship  of  the  Com¬ 
monwealth  of  Australia  last  year,  when  he  was  created  the 
first  Marquess  of  Hopetoun.  He  was  born  at  Hopetoun  on 
September  25,  186U,  and  was  educated  at  Eton.  He  has 
travelled  much  abroad,  and  has  held  many  important 
Government  posts,  and  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
naval  and  military  matters.  He  was  President  of  the  Insti¬ 
tution  of  Naval  Architects  from  1895  till  he  went  as 
Governor-General  to  Australia  in  1960,  being  also  Pay¬ 
master-General  from  1895  to  1898.  His  lordship  owns  about 
42,000  acres  of  land  (including  the  estate  of  Holywell  Hall, 
in  Lincolnshire),  and  in  order  to  stimulate  an  interest  in  the 
chase  he  keeps  a  pack  of  harriers  and  a  pack  of  beagles. 
His  son  and  heir  is  Lord  Hope. 
The  Gardens 
The  east  front  has  been  already  briefly  described,  and 
on  the  opposite,  or  west,  side,  there  are  other  beautiful 
lawns,  and  a  small  lake  of  formal  outline.  The  soil  for 
these  lawns  is  said  to  have  been  brought  in  sloops  from 
Ireland,  “  as  a  preventive  of  moles,”  for  moles  are  so  rare 
in  Ireland  as  to  have  given  rise  to  the  popular  belief  that 
they  do  not  exist  there,  and  probably  the  nature  of  tracts 
of  the  Irish  soil  may  account  for  their  absence.  ^  The  orna¬ 
mental  grounds  and  plantations  are  entered  off  the  north 
end  of  the  house,  and  these,  I  believe,  are  about  ninety 
acres  in  extent.  From  this  pai't  one  sets  out  upon  a  v\alk 
of  varied  interest,  winding  onward  to  the  ‘‘Nether  Mile 
Point.”  This  sylvan  path  lies  along  highly-elevaled  ground. 
