The retreat of a celebrated Victorian politician, sportsman, antiquarian and bibliophile has been restored and brought back to life. John Martin Robinson reports on this remarkable survival
The castle is very much the expression of his literary, historical and antiquarian enthusiasms. It was also a retreat from his Regency seat at Dalmeny House, half a mile away, a place where he could read and write and practise his speeches. Therefore, it has six libraries, where he would go when suffering from insomnia, but only one bedroom and none of the usual Victorian servants’ quarters or conventional reception rooms.
The 5th Earl’s work to the castle consciously celebrated his family’s Scottish roots and a tablet on the east front is pointedly inscribed: ‘Remove Not The Ancient Landmark Which Thy Fathers Have Set. Proverbs XXII 28.’
The founder of the family fortunes, Sir Archibald Primrose, 1st Baronet of Carrington, or Clerkington, Midlothian, was a successful lawyer, Clerk Register of Scotland. He bought the estate, comprising the baronies of Barnbougle and Dalmeny, from the Hamiltons after the Restoration in 1662 and the old castle—reworked to create the present building—was the family home for 150 years.
Denne historien er fra July 10, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 10, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds