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 HE
glory of the garden at Balcaskie, like that at the neighbouring
Balcarres, consists in its huge terraces, which command the same
enchanting prospect of wood and water, field and firth, and the once
bitterly hostile principality of Laudonia or Lothian. But the terrace
work at Balcaskie has the double advantage over that at Balcarres of
having been planned by a great master of architecture in the Jacobean
style of his own day, and of having been softened by the lapse of more
than two centuries. What Sir Robert Sibbald described in 1710 as "a very
pretty new house, with all modish conveniences of terraces, park, and
plainting [sic]," has now become a very pretty old house, and the
terraces, once so painfully spick and span, have mellowed into tender
greys and browns, with stains of lichen and velvet cushions of moss,
mouldering here and there into hospitable chinks and crannies, where
thoughtful hands have established thriving colonies of saxifrage, Erinus
and other wall-loving herbs.
Similarly, the house,
which in the fifteenth century must have been but a pele tower of the
ordinary type, owned by the family of Strang (whence was descended Sir
Robert Strange, who engraved bank-notes for Prince Charlie), passing by
marriage to a grandson of Moncrieff of that ilk, was sold in the
seventeenth century to Sir William Bruce, architect of Charles I I.'s
Palace of Holyroodhouse, who transformed the fortalice of Balcaskie into
a fair Jacobean manor house. His handiwork is easily recognised in the
characteristic flanking towers and pavilions, the details of the
mouldings, and especially in the wonderfully rich plaster-work of the
ceilings, which rival the masterpieces of that kind of decoration in
Holyrood. It was an age when the classical renaissance, having spent its
force on the Continent, still flowed strongly in the northern realm ; in
token whereof are ranged the busts of Roman emperors along the principal
terrace, each on the top of a mighty buttress of the vertical wall.
Nymphs, agreeably discoloured, fauns picturesquely chipped, haunt the
surrounding groves, posed on pedestals beside the woodland paths ; nor
shall you look in vain for le petit dieu, donit les yeux sort caclus,
mais les fesses a decouvert.
Evidence of a genial
climate abounds in the vegetation of these grounds. An enormous Wistaria
trails its serpentine length along the south front of the house, where
is also to be seen on this May morning a pretty picture, formed by a
white fantail
dove nesting in a myrtle
trained to a height of twenty feet on the wall. On the lower terrace is
an immense Cornus (Benthamia) capitata occupying the whole space between
two buttresses. It flowers abundantly, as a rule, which, as Mr. George
Cavendish would say, "is a rare thing and seldom to be seen "—in the
north country, at least; but it appears to have reached the limit of old
age, signs of which are apparent in its weakly growth and sparse
foliage. Cordyline (Draccen a) australis appears perfectly hardy here,
promising, when a little older, to present a feature peculiarly in
harmony with the stately surroundings. Phygelius capensis, usually grown
as a not very effective herbaceous perennial, has reached a height of
twenty feet on a wall—an example well worth following in other gardens.
The western staircase of the upper terrace is garlanded with the
far-reaching sprays of that most generous of all clematis, C. montana,
which pours cataracts of ivory flowers over the old stonework and makes
the air redolent of incense like May-blossom.
Among the humbler herbs,
nothing is so remarkable as the abundance and luxuriance of the great
Christmas rose (Hellebores niger var. maximus or altifolius). This is
mainly due to the special treatment accorded to it by Mr. Maule, the
head gardener, who obtained a root of this, the finest of all the
hellebores, many years ago from the late Miss Hope of Wardie Lodge. I
likewise received a root at about the same time from the same source;
but it may serve to demonstrate the merit of sagacious treatment if I
confess that, whereas my whole stock at the present time could be
comfortably lodged in a single wheel-barrow, Mr. Maule can show you tons
of healthy plants growing vigorously as a crop in the kitchen garden,
besides having disposed of great quantities of roots during a long
succession of years. He makes no secret of his treatment, which, put
briefly, consists in deep preparation of rather stiff soil and abundance
of well-decayed leaf mould (peat he does not recommend). When it is
desired to propagate the stock, he takes up the roots towards the end of
March, cuts off all long ends, which, if left untrimmed, cause the
crowns to rot, and dibbles the slices in lines. Many persons who have
been driven to despair in attempting to increase this and other
varieties of Christmas rose, may find a way to success through following
these simple instructions.
Balcaskie presents a rare
and charming example of the union of architecture and horticulture, so
seldom effectively carried out by modern designers. |
