#lasswade

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Melville Castle, Edinburgh, Lasswade, United Kingdom

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Mavisbank House, Lasswade

Mavisbank is a country house outside Loanhead, south of Edinburgh in Midlothian, Scotland. It was designed by the architect William Adam, in collaboration with his client, Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, and was constructed between 1723 and 1727.  The first Palladian villa in Scotland, it is described by Historic Scotland as "one of Scotland's most important country houses".] The house was altered in the 19th century, but suffered decades of neglect in the 20th century. The interiors were gutted by fire in 1973, and the house remains a ruin. As of May 2009, plans exist to partially restore the building, and manage the estate as a community asset.

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December 13th 1585 saw the birth of William Drummond of Hawthornden, the noted Scottish poet.

I read and posted a wee article on Drummond's historical home, Hawthornden Castle in November, which most historians wrongly tell you is near Roslin, having hailed from Midlothian myself I it is actually a few miles furthereast at Lasswade, nearer the town of Bonnyrigg, I might add a bit more about the castle at the end, will see......where I grew up, I used to play on the north of the River Esk, the castle was on the south.

The Drummonds were an ancient family with connections to the Royal House of Stewart. William Drummond was educated at the High School of Edinburgh, then at Edinburgh University, under James Knox, graduating MA in 1605. From 1606 to 1608 he studied Law in Paris and Bourges. When he returned to Scotland in November 1608, he bought back nearly 400 volumes of French, Italian, Spanish, and English literature, the foundation of a fine private library.

In 1610, William visited London, meeting some of the most famous poets of the city. Upon his father’s death later that year, he became Laird of Hawthornden and retired to the family seat, to write and to lead a life of "gentlemanly simplicity." as on source put it.

William Drummond continued his strong connection with Edinburgh University and made the first major donation of books to their library, of 550 volumes, this gave the university it's first literary collection. He made further donations over the years in total over 800 were bequeathed, around 700 survive to this day. These include some of the Library's greatest treasures, especially in the fields of literature, history, geography, philosophy and theology, science, medicine and law. One of the treasures are early printings of William Shakespeare's works. I can only imagine what it is like looking through these books, some over 400 years old.

Knighted by James VI in 1603, Sir William was a keen Royalist, having spent time at the court, mainly in London, he supported Charles I, producing letters, some campaigning for Charles' release after he was imprisoned in 1645 on the Isle of Wight by Cromwell. His health is said to have suffered when the King was executed in January 1649, he died at Hawthornden Castle on December 4th 1649, he is remembered on The Scott Monument, as one of the sixteen poets and writers whose heads appear on the structure.

Okay back to the castle, well not the building itself, but below on the cliffs are numerous caves and passages carved out of the solid rock. They are traditionally associated with Robert the Bruce and the War of Independence, or indeed William Wallace, depending on the legend you read. The caves are actually said to date back to the Bronze aga, no matterwho hid in them and why, they are a must to visit if stravaiging around the Valley here, which leads from Roslin Glen, into what is actually the Esk Valley.

There are plenty sites telling you how to find the caves online, don't go without good boots and expect it to be muddy!

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Well it might have started off frosty but with the sun gaining strength, it felt distinctly spring-like in Midlothian today. I spent the day with my 32nd Ramblers Scotland group, this time for a surprising circular walk from Lasswade to Roslin and back.

The best thing about getting out with these groups is I keep discovering hidden wee gems I'd never know about otherwise. In this case, the path along the North Esk and then a strange, almost ridge-like woodland path at Bilston where the ground fell away on both sides. Anyway, lovely company as always :)

Midlothian Walkers mainly walk on Sundays, in and around Midlothian but often farther afield in the summer months. Their next walk is a circular on the Penicuik estate on 24th Feb. Details in the usual place on the Ramblers website: https://www.ramblers.org.uk/…/groups/midlothian-walkers.aspx

[scotianostra]

Inside the Ultimate Writers’ Retreat

When Charles Dickens wrote in Bleak House that, “the one great principle of English law is to make business for itself,” perhaps Dickens should have substituted—for the word ‘law’—the word ‘literat…

A fascinating insight of the writers retreat at Hawthornden Castle, where there is no talking between 9:30am and 6:00pm, no mobile phone signal, except in a small area in the car park, no internet, and an old dungeon they lock you in if you post photos of the place on Facebook! And incidently the patron, Drue Heinz ,who passed away last year aged 103, so the writer got her age wrong as 102 in 2015. She was married into the famous Heinz family of the 57 varieties. 

The castle has been used as a literary retreat for hundreds of writers from around the world, including Helen Vendler, Jonathan Coe, Ian Rankin and Alasdair Gray.

Mrs Heinz bought the castle in the 80′s and undertook a restoration of the castle in the 1980s. Heinz, a patron of the arts, made it into a place for writers to peacefully live and work, called the Hawthornden Literary Retreat.

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