Regency Estates: Abbotsford House

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Abbotsford Rorburghshire THE SEAT OF SIR WALTER SCOTT BART The accompanying View possesses more than an ordinary share of interest owing to the literary fame of the ingenious owner of the Mansion In all ages the favoured spot of seclusion selected by men of transcendant genius in any department of the Fine Arts or Belles Lettres has been an object of particular curiosity and a view of Pope's Villa at Twickenham or Thomson's House at Kew Green will ever continue to inspire the most pleasurable emotions and to interest the feelings of the enlightened part of the community Abbotsford the residence of the most amusing and prolific writer of the present day has likewise particular claim to notice in point of architecture About fifteen or sixteen years ago says a modern tourist there was not a more unlovely spot in this part of the world than that on which Abbotsford now exhibits all its beautiful Architecture and accompaniment of Garden and Woodland The approach to the house is by an avenue somewhat curved and which is entered by a gate formed in an embattled wall of considerable height Each side of this wall is decorated with the Jougs or Feudal Yokes brought from Thrieve Castle in Galloway an ancient fort of the family of Douglas At the end of the avenue you come suddenly upon the Mansion whose front extends about 150 feet in length having a lofty Tower at each end dissimilar in point of architecture The exterior is highly embellished with machiolated parapets labelled windows of stained glass and fantastic water spouts Other external objects tend to adorn the edifice among which may be noticed the clusters of Chimneys which are of a distinct architectural character approximating to those of the houses built about the time of Queen Elizabeth Before the edifice is a small Enclosure on the eastern side of which through a have a sight of the Gardens The House is entered by a noble Porch opening into the Hall which is ornamented with two lofty Windows covered with armorial bearings This room is about 40 feet long 20 feet high and 20 broad and has its roof supported by a series of pointed arches whose beams are charged with escutcheons The Floor of the Hall is laid with black and white marble brought from the Hebrides in slabs of a lozenge shape To particularize the variety of curiosities and the different relics of antiquity to be found at this place would occupy more room than we can possibly devote to the subject Abbotsford may be said to comprize a museum within itself The Drawing room displays a rich store of antique ebony furniture and of curious china Two or three rooms are assigned as a depository for arms and armour Rob Roy's gun the blunderbuss of Hofer a sword possessed by the great Duke of Montrose a present to that General from King Charles I a pair of pistols a open Gothic arches you screen of

ABBOTSFORD ROXBURGHSHIRE which belonged to Napoleon Buonaparte and the hunting horn of James I are among the penates of this Mansion There is a and good collection of paintings in oil and also in water colours Among the former may be mentioned the following portraits Duke of Monmouth and Dryden by Sir Peter Lely Hogarth himself Lord Essex commander of the Parliamentarian forces horseback Prior and Gay both by Jarvis the head of Mary of Scots in a charger by Amias Canrod This last was presented Sir Walter Scott by a Prussian Nobleman and is remarkable for faithfulness of the execution Of Family Pictures may be noticed Great Grandfather of the worthy owner the Old Cavalier mentioned in Marmion and his Eldest Son in hussar uniform by Allan Edinburgh Of water colour drawings are some by Turner and Thompson of Duddingstone for a work entitled The Provincial Antiquities of Scotland The Library which is the largest of all the apartments being an oblong of about 50 feet by 30 contains 18,000 volumes exclusive of a vast collection of MSS A bust of Shakspeare presides over this treasure of Literature and in one corner there is a Silver Urn containing bones from the Piræus presented to the worthy Baronet by the late Lord Byron Several of the books are presentation copies from the first Literati of the day and among the gifts should be 7 noticed a set of Montfaucon in ten vols folio bound in scarlet and stamped with the royal arms a present from his Majesty Beyond the Library is a room about 25 feet square by 20 feet high forming the Poet's Study and filled with books chiefly for the purpose of reference The country around Abbotsford is extremely picturesque The fine clear stream of the Tweed with its banks decorated with woods of birch is viewed to great advantage from all the principal apartments In the back ground are the Green Hills of Ettrick Forest So far as nature is concerned nothing is wanting to favour the locality and the fertile imagination of the Author of Waverley accustomed to rove through the regions of Nature in depicting scenes of fanciful delight has been successfully employed in embellishing the grounds around the house The life Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen (1829)

The grand, gothic mansion known as Abbotsford was constructed between 1817 and 1825 to be the home of Sir Walter Scott.  On the bank of the River Tweed in Roxburgshire, Scotland, it was originally a farm named Cartleyhole that Scott purchased in 1811. Scott filled the home with his large collection of books, antique furniture, arms and armour, and other relics of Scottish history.

Designed as a parallellogram, the house had all the markings of a historic castle but with modern conveniences including gas lighting.

Scott’s estate was enmired in debt by 1825, only to be released by encumbrances after his death when publisher Robert Cadell would cancel the bond on the property in exchange for the family’s share of copyright of Scott’s works in 1847.  Scott himself passed away in 1832, but his descendants would continue to enjoy the property until 2004.

The estate can be visited today: Abbotsford – The Home of Sir Walter Scott (scottsabbotsford.com)  You can even stay in one of the delightful rooms with your pet, your group for an event, or on your own for luxury and retreat: Stay at Abbotsford | Luxury Group Self Catering Scottish Borders (scottsabbotsford.com)

 

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